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Either we slap a stiff tax on surveillance data, or we learn to love the panopticon.

There are plenty of headlines on this today. It has also been a topic of news in recent times. So I don't feel it necessary to provide a link to a specific story.

Opinions?

What do you think of this?

I think that people who have proven that they are a danger to others should not be allowed to fly until they can show they have taken some steps to correct the problem.

We don't need crazy people on a violent rampage at 30,000 feet.

Most grade school children understand that we should follow the rules. The rules and expected behavior are well understood before ever boarding the aircraft.

This includes things such as intoxication, masks or simply outbursts. Don't try to start a political rally amongst all the passengers. It may come as a surprise, but not everyone agrees on politics!

It should be obvious that flight attendants are people trying to do their jobs.

Isn't it unfair to ban people from flying whose job may require them to fly frequently? Is it unfair to ban delivery truck drivers from working just because they are exercising their personal freedom to drink and drive?

When one person is forcibly removed from a flight, there is still a plane load of many others who seem to know how to behave.

What mechanism should exist to get yourself removed from a no fly list for bad behavior? (different from terrorism)

What are appropriate fines? (if any)

I'm worried, What happened to the lessons of the last century? I had a grandmother who lived through both world wars and lived to own and use a smartphone.

Much important history has faded from living memory. We mock, harass and intimidate our historians and philosophers.

We for get the optimism and courage of our parents' generation who stood up for civil rights, equality and social justice. We look the other way as hard-won rights are eroded. We sit idly by while we let tyrants exploit us and dismantle our democratic structures and rob us of our sustenance.

At times like these I turn to popular music for inspiration and wisdom. I would like to share one particular retrospectively enthusiastic piece I've recently discovered from more optimistic times and I'd like to think it hasn't been in vain quite yet. We are still the human race.

It's by Montrose (also a Scottish town) and is called Space Station #5 and goes like this:

Start, with the sun
And move on out
The future's in the skies above
The heavens unfold
And a new star is born
Space and time makin' love

Now, I'm sure that's the sort of thing Homer Simpson had on his 8 track in his car back in the day.

I don't care. It's much better than war.

I intend this journal as an Ask Soylent prompt. I'm trying to understand how to implement collision detection in 2D and 3D games. It seems like a complicated topic, so I'm hoping that maybe some people here have experience or could at least point me in the right direction.

Detecting that a collision has occurred actually seems very simple. It's just testing if there's an intersection between two shapes. I'm old enough to remember that collision detection was done in hardware on some old computers. As I recall, the VIC-II chip detected collisions between sprites. Now it's done in software, but it's still simple enough.

It seems much more confusing how to handle a collision once it's occurred. In order for there to be a collision, shape A (e.g., a player) must overlap shape B (e.g., a wall or a platform) by some amount. One approach is continuous collision detection, which sounds like it's computationally intensive and isn't practical for real-time use with large numbers of objects. Otherwise, it seems like the position of shape A has to be moved back to a point where it no longer intersects with shape B. I'm sure there has to be a way to do this efficiently because it was done on hardware that was orders of magnitude less powerful than current computers. How was this implemented in 2D games like platformers and in 3D games like Doom?

Let's say I have a number of balls that are bouncing around inside a box. The balls can collide with the walls of the box and with other balls. if a ball collides with a wall, its direction should change, but its position also needs to be updated so it no longer intersects with the wall. However, the act of updating its position could also cause it to collide with another object like another wall or perhaps a different ball inside the box. Within a single time step in the loop, it's definitely possible to have multiple collisions, and the act of resolving a collision could also cause the object to collide with another object. Aside from doing continuous collision detection, how would this be handled in an orderly manner?

Maybe I'm totally missing something, but handling collisions appears to be a topic that sounds very simple in principle but is actually rather complex. I'd like to learn how this was done in old games that were designed for hardware where continuous collision detection simply wasn't practical to implement.

Threats from QAnon conspiracists have forced a butterfly sanctuary in the Rio Grande Valley to close

The National Butterfly Center, along the U.S.-Mexico border in Mission, has been the target of conspiracy theorists since 2019.

A South Texas butterfly sanctuary has closed after it was the target of conspiracy theories that escalated into credible threats.

The National Butterfly Center, along the U.S.-Mexico border in Mission, has long been the target of QAnon conspiracy theories falsely tying the organization to human trafficking.

The center is a 20-year-old nature conservatory for wild butterflies. There are no law enforcement investigations into the organization or its staff for human trafficking.

“They tell these lies in a variety of forms through all of their channels to provoke stochastic terrorism,” said the center’s executive director Marianna Treviño-Wright.

[. . . . ] The harassment escalated in late January when a right-wing congressional candidate from Virginia, Kimberly Lowe, visited the nature conservatory, Treviño-Wright said. Lowe demanded the center give her access to the river “to see all the illegals crossing on the raft.” Treviño-Wright said Lowe tackled her when she asked Lowe to leave the premises.

The center closed last weekend during the We Stand America border security rally. Former state Rep. Aaron Peña had informed Treviño-Wright that the center could be a target during the rally and that she should “be armed at all times or out of town.”

Attendees of the rally, largely composed of staunch Trump supporters, did stop at the conservatory. Ben Bergquam, a contributor for the far-right site Real America’s Voice, posted a minutelong clip on Twitter, repeating false claims about sex trafficking.

[ . . . . ] The false trafficking rumors around the National Butterfly Center echo “Pizzagate,” a 2016 conspiracy theory that claimed a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant was the site of a child abuse ring led by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Pizzagate made headlines when a man fired a gun at the restaurant based on the false information.

QAnon, a far-right political conspiracy and movement, emerged shortly after in 2017 and falsely claimed a child sex trafficking ring conspired against Trump. Once limited to fringe platforms, QAnon conspiracy theorists have flooded mainstream social networks and have been accused of plotting or carrying out violent crimes.

[ . . . . ] “It’s incredibly distressing that the United States has come to the point where a really significant part of the public is just no longer tethered to reality,” said Jeffrey Glassberg, the founder of the North American Butterfly Association, the parent organization of the butterfly center.

There are two problems here.

1. Someone, somewhere, makes up these lies. (and doesn't care who gets hurt)

2. A whole lot of people are so gullible that they will believe the most outlandish lies.

The harder and closer everyone looks at the stolen 2020 election lie, the worse that lie looks as time passes. The people who made up and loudly trumpeted the voting machine lies are now being called to account for their damages.

Having passed 8 BILLION covid vaccine doses given globally, and in the US having 63 % of the population fully vaccinated makes the fringe anti vax movement look worse each day.

How does a country get to where half the population can no longer spot obvious lies? (Democrats drink the blood of babies) Half the population can't tell reality from fantasy. Some subset of those are willing to take violent action based on LIES!

How does this happen? What went wrong?

How to people uncritically accept the most ridiculous lies as truth worth fighting for?

Anti-vaxxer tells supporters the new COVID antidote is in 'urine therapy'

As the pandemic has evolved and vaccinations have become politicized, the door has opened for some questionable alternatives to treat COVID-19
Urine therapy – where advocates encourage people to drink their own urine to tap into it's redemptive properties – is among the latest and a recent video calling the therapy the next "COVID antidote" was viewed over 366,000 times.

"I've seen a rise in anti-vaxxers and conspiracists supporting urine, Viagra and other odd alternatives to the vaccine," said Dr. Amanda Torres, a physician at Winchester Hospital in Boston. "It's dangerous"

I know a certain group of SN regulars and their AC sock puppets are going to rush right out and try this. And they will recommend others to do the same.

I know I am about to get a LOT of HATE for the following, but here goes.

DO NOT DRINK URINE TO TREAT COVID 19.

Fact Check-No evidence that ‘urine therapy’ cures COVID-19

An anti-vaccine activist is claiming that consuming urine is the “antidote” to the COVID-19 virus.

Examples can be seen here and here.

The text in one post reads: “After being arrested for not wearing a mask in a court room, after being released Christopher Keys has come out and said they have the antidote ‘Urine therapy’. What is it… with these people wanting to drink their own pee.”

In a video (here), Key says: “…that it’s very possible, probable, we have the antidote, okay? And the antidote is even for those that have been vaccinated and the research he’s already sent me just blew me away.”

At the 0:39 mark, Key says: “The antidote that we’ve seen now, and we have tons and tons of research, is urine therapy. And I know to a lot of you this sounds crazy but guys, God’s given us everything we need.”

At 1:02, Key continues to say: “This has been around for centuries. We’ve got research after research, documented, peer-reviewed, published papers on your end. We do. We have this. They have been doing for the last 9 months now and what he has right now is all anecdotal because you know, to put together a randomized double placebo study with this is kind of tough…”

The fact check from same article . . .

Fact Checkers Chequeado debunked claims that drinking chlorine dioxide can cure COVID-19, here.

There is no evidence that consuming urine is an effective treatment for COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists approved treatment options on its website (here). Urine therapy is not listed or recommended by the FDA.

More liberal left wing advice trying to convince you not to drink urine to treat covid . . .

No, you can not cure COVID-19 by drinking urine

There is no scientific research that shows urine therapy can cure COVID-19. In fact, they say don't drink urine because it can have bacteria that can make you sick.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A viral social media post is making the rounds. A man who runs an anti-vaccine website says the antidote to COVID-19 is urine therapy.

From social media, we have seen a lot of theories on how to cure COVID-19. The latest is urine therapy, which essentially means you drink your own urine.

Several people have tweeted a video of an anti-vaccine activist, Christopher Keys saying urine therapy is the antidote.

[ . . . . ]

THE CLAIM:
Urine therapy can cure COVID-19.

OUR SOURCES:
The Food and Drug Administration
Cardiologist, Dr. Payal Kohli
Family Physician, Dr. Karla Robinson
Winchester Hospital

Some hearsay . . .

I am sure some SN regulars will rush right out and try this new right wing anti vax therapy. They'll loudly condemn me, with name calling of all kinds, that I'm not an expert, etc. It's a liberal left wing plot. Nevermind medical experts and scientists. ACs will come out in droves. They'll say the vax is unpopular and urine therapy works better. I'll be asked I am so against doing research into urine therapy to treat covid. Etc, etc and on and on. They will be unmoved by facts, numbers or the advice of trained experts. I wish there was a way to convince them that there is a scientifically proven way to fight covid and to treat covid if you get it.

See Also:

Anti-Vax Leader Urges Followers to Drink Their Own Urine to Fight COVID

Can drinking urine cure COVID? U of L doctor's response to anti-vaxxer's claim goes viral

UPDATE: Since I posted this journal entry, new allegations against aristarchus have been made public by the site staff. If these new allegations are true, then I can only say that I am very disappointed in aristarchus. I consider the alleged behavior unacceptable regardless of any possible justification.

I am leaving the original contents of my journal entry below (in the "spoiler" section), as the words reflect my views based on the information that was publicly available to me at the time I wrote them. I also want to restate my belief that mobbing someone by following the actions of your peers and downmodding comments based on the author rather than the content is unethical.

Thought I should post this quick, before the sockpuppets of right-wing doom manage to overrule the weak admin attempts at justice and fair-dealing.

I went from a karma of 50, (maxed, normal) to a -2 in a week or so. Strange, since I did not change any of my normal posting behaviors. Also, I am mod-banned until forever, so this is not revenge for my modding. But there does seem to be a concerted effort by some to "cancel" the aristarchus.

Whether or not you agree with my positions, we all have an interest in keeping free and open debate on all issues alive on SoylentNews, so I would ask my fellow soylentils to rally to the cause. By the Way, the cause is not storming the Capitol, or denying that storming the Capitol ever took place. Just allowing views that someone like myself might put forward, because they are true and reasonable.

If not, I could be put into the situation again where I could not submit submissions, because hostile editors immediately replaced them with their own subs, and I could not post comments to regain my karma, since I was banned from posting, and I could not even do what I am doing now, since if your karma falls low enough, you cannot even journal.

I call it "janrinok's revenge". Put it in your journal. Sure, if you have not been banned from SoylentNews because of your political opinions. Free speech, my ass.

***Update! Welcome to all who have found their way back to this journal entry, even though it has be disappeared from the jounrnal list on the front page! Janrinok has "no idea" how that happened, but is gloating over my karma. What more evidence do we need of a concerted admin attempt to ban aristarchus? Well, I may not be able to post much as me in the near future, but keep your eye out for "aristachish" AC posts. You can't stop the signal, Mal!

****
Quick test to see if I can edit my hidden journal! Cannot post to it, or anywhere. Not sure if I am still able to make aristarchus submissions, but even if I can, most likely they will be censored as well. This may well be the end of SoylentNews!

*****
Looks like! Almost none of the accusations against aristarchus are true. This may be my last message to SN. Been fun, people, with a notable exception.

Smartmatic sues Mike Lindell for defamation, saying he is 'crazy like a fox' and alleging he 'intentionally stoked the fires of xenophobia and party divide for the noble purpose of selling his pillows'

Voting-machine company Smartmatic filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, alleging that he spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election to sell pillows.

[...] The company is asking for an unspecified amount of monetary compensation and for Lindell to retract claims he made that Smartmatic and other voting-machine companies switched votes from former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden in 2020.

"He knows voting machines did not switch votes from former President Trump to now-President Biden. These facts do not matter to Mr. Lindell because he knows he can sell," according to Smartmatic's lawsuit. "He knows he can sell a preconceived story about voting machines stealing democracy by stealing votes [...]

[...] In its filing, the company further alleged that Lindell was taking advantage of a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to make money by pushing baseless voter-fraud claims.

"Mr. Lindell intentionally stoked the fires of xenophobia and party-divide for the noble purpose of selling his pillows," said Smartmatic's complaint, adding that MyPillow branding was placed "conveniently" and "strategically" during Lindell's media appearances.

"Mr. Lindell's message was as dangerous as it was factually inaccurate," Smartmatic's lawsuit said.

Truth is an absolute defense in a defamation lawsuit. So Mr. Lindell only needs to show the truth of his statements. He keeps on saying he has all the evidence. By August or September of 2021 the SCOTUS will overturn the 2020 election. Etc.

"They're guilty. They've attacked us and were part of the biggest crime in history against our country. And they're going to all go to prison," Lindell told Insider when asked for comment about Smartmatic's lawsuit against him. "The reason I'm going after Smartmatic and Dominion is because they helped commit one of the biggest crimes against the American people, and my grandchildren deserve a future in this country."

It is amusing to watch people be uncomfortable and embarrassed by this clownish buffoon who spouts the same stolen election nonsense that they say they believe -- without any evidence.

In light of the current military buildup along the Russian/Ukrainian border, and the failure of talks between NATO, the OSCE, the United States and Russia over the Ukraine situation, I was curious about the roots of the conflict. The following is a translation of an article written by Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, about the problem with Ukraine. It was written in July of last year (2021), and published on the kremlin.ru website.

Recently, answering a question about Russian-Ukrainian relations during the "Direct Line", he said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, a single whole. These words are not a tribute to some conjuncture, current political circumstances. I have said this more than once, this is my conviction. Therefore, I consider it necessary to state my position in detail and share my assessments of the current situation.

I would like to emphasize right away that the wall that has arisen in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between parts of, in fact, one historical and spiritual space, I perceive as a great common misfortune, as a tragedy. These are primarily the consequences of our own mistakes made in different periods. But it is also the result of the purposeful work of those forces that have always sought to undermine our unity. The formula that is used has been known for centuries: divide and conquer. Nothing new. Hence the attempts to play on the national issue, to sow discord between people. And as a super task - to divide, and then to pit against each other parts of a single people.

To better understand the present and look into the future, we must turn to history. Of course, within the framework of the article it is impossible to cover all the events that have occurred for more than a thousand years. But I will focus on those key turning points that it is important for us – both in Russia and in Ukraine – to remember.

Both Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are the heirs of Ancient Russia, which was the largest state in Europe. Slavic and other tribes in a vast area - from Ladoga, Novgorod, Pskov to Kiev and Chernigov - were united by one language (now we call it Old Russian), economic ties, the power of the princes of the Rurik dynasty. And after the baptism of Russia – and one Orthodox faith. The spiritual choice of St. Vladimir, who was both a Novgorod and a great Kievan prince, and today largely determines our kinship.

The Kiev princely table occupied a dominant position in the Ancient Russian state. This has been the case since the end of the IX century. Oleg 's Prophetic words about Kiev: "May it be the mother of Russian cities" - preserved for posterity the "Tale of Bygone Years".

Later, like other European states of that time, Ancient Rus faced a weakening of the central government, fragmentation. At the same time, both the nobility and ordinary people perceived Russia as a common space, as their Homeland.

After the devastating invasion of Batu, when many cities, including Kiev, were devastated, fragmentation intensified. North-Eastern Russia fell into the Horde dependence, but retained limited sovereignty. Russian Russian lands in the south and west mostly became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which, I want to draw attention to this, in historical documents was called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia.

Representatives of princely and boyar families went into service from one prince to another, were at enmity with each other, but also made friends, concluded alliances. On Kulikovo Field, next to the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, Voivode Bobrok from Volhynia, the sons of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas – Andrei Polotsky and Dmitry Bryansky fought. At the same time, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello, the son of the Tver princess, led his troops to join Mamai. All these are pages of our common history, a reflection of its complexity and multidimensionality.

It is important to note that both in the western and eastern Russian lands spoke the same language. The faith was Orthodox. Until the middle of the XV century, a single church administration was maintained.

At the new turn of historical development, Lithuanian Rus and the strengthening of Moscow Rus could become points of attraction, consolidation of the territories of Ancient Russia. History decreed that Moscow became the center of reunification, which continued the tradition of ancient Russian statehood. The Moscow princes - descendants of Prince Alexander Nevsky - threw off the external yoke, began to collect historical Russian lands.

Other processes were going on in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the XIV century, the ruling elite of Lithuania adopted Catholicism. In the XVI century, the Union of Lublin with the Polish Kingdom was concluded – the "Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of Both Peoples" (in fact, Polish and Lithuanian) was formed. The Polish Catholic nobility received significant land holdings and privileges on the territory of Russia. According to the Brest Union of 1596, part of the Western Russian Orthodox clergy submitted to the authority of the Pope. Pollination and Romanization were carried out, Orthodoxy was displaced.

As a response, in the XVI–XVII centuries, the liberation movement of the Orthodox population of the Dnieper was growing. The events of the times of Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky became crucial. His supporters tried to achieve autonomy from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Russian Russian Army's petition to the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1649 referred to the observance of the rights of the Russian Orthodox population, that "the governor of Kiev was the Russian people and the Greek law, so that he would not step on the churches of God...". But the Cossacks were not heard.

B. Khmelnitsky's appeals to Moscow followed, which were considered by the Zemstvo Councils. On October 1, 1653, this supreme representative body of the Russian state decided to support the co-religionists and accept them under the patronage. In January 1654, the Pereyaslav Rada confirmed this decision. Then the ambassadors of B. Khmelnitsky and Moscow toured dozens of cities, including Kiev, whose residents took the oath to the Russian tsar. By the way, there was nothing like this at the conclusion of the Union of Lublin.

In a letter to Moscow in 1654, B. Khmelnitsky thanked Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich for the fact that he "deigned to accept the entire Zaporozhian Army and the entire Russian Orthodox world under his strong and high royal hand." Russian Russians, in their appeals to both the Polish king and the Russian tsar, called the Cossacks and defined themselves as Russian Orthodox people.

During the protracted war of the Russian state with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, some of the hetmans, the heirs of B. Khmelnitsky, then "lagged" from Moscow, then sought support from Sweden, Poland, Turkey. But, I repeat, for the people, the war was, in fact, of a liberating nature. It ended with the Andrusov Truce of 1667. The final results were consolidated by the "Eternal Peace" of 1686. The Russian state included the city of Kiev and the lands of the left bank of the Dnieper, including Poltava, Chernihiv, and Zaporozhye. Their inhabitants were reunited with the main part of the Russian Orthodox people. Behind this area itself, the name "Little Russia" (Little Russia) was established.

The name "Ukraine" was then used more often in the meaning in which the Old Russian word "outskirts" is found in written sources since the XII century, when it came to various border territories. And the word "Ukrainian", judging also by archival documents, originally meant border guards who provided protection of external borders.

On the Right Bank, which remained in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the old order was restored, social and religious oppression intensified. On the left bank, the lands taken under the protection of a single state, on the contrary, began to develop actively. Residents from the other bank of the Dnieper moved here en masse. They sought support from people of the same language and, of course, the same faith.

During the Northern War with Sweden, the inhabitants of Little Russia did not have a choice – who to be with. Mazepa's rebellion was supported by only a small part of the Cossacks. People of different classes considered themselves Russian and Orthodox.

Representatives of the Cossack foremen, included in the nobility, reached the heights of a political, diplomatic, and military career in Russia. Graduates of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy played a leading role in church life. This was also the case during the Hetmanate – in fact, an autonomous state entity with its own special internal structure, and then in the Russian Empire. The Little Russians in many ways created a large common country, its statehood, culture, science. They participated in the development and development of the Urals, Siberia, the Caucasus, and the Far East. By the way, even in the Soviet period, natives of Ukraine occupied the most significant, including the highest positions in the leadership of the united state. Suffice it to say that for almost 30 years in total, the CPSU was headed by N. Khrushchev and L. Brezhnev, whose party biography was most closely connected with Ukraine.

In the second half of the XVIII century, after the wars with the Ottoman Empire, the Crimea, as well as the lands of the Black Sea region, called "Novorossiya", became part of Russia. They were populated by immigrants from all Russian provinces. After the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire returned the western Old Russian lands, with the exception of Galicia and Transcarpathia, which ended up in the Austrian, and later in the Austro–Hungarian Empire.

The integration of Western Russian lands into the common state space was not only the result of political and diplomatic decisions. It was held on the basis of a common faith and cultural traditions. And again, I would like to emphasize the linguistic proximity. So, back in the early XVII century, one of the hierarchs of the Uniate Church, Joseph Rutsky, reported to Rome that the inhabitants of Muscovy called Russians from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth their brothers, that their written language was exactly the same, and their spoken language, although different, was insignificant. According to his expression, like the inhabitants of Rome and Bergamo. This, as we know, is the center and north of modern Italy.

Of course, over many centuries of fragmentation, life in different states, regional linguistic features and dialects have emerged. The literary language was enriched at the expense of the people. Ivan Kotlyarevsky, Grigory Skovoroda, Taras Shevchenko played a huge role here. Their works are our common literary and cultural heritage. Taras Shevchenko's poems are written in Ukrainian, and his prose is mostly in Russian. The books of Nikolai Gogol, a patriot of Russia, a native of Poltava region, are written in Russian, full of Little Russian folk expressions and folklore motifs. How can this legacy be shared between Russia and Ukraine? And why do it?

The south-western lands of the Russian Empire, Little Russia and Novorossiya, Crimea developed as diverse in their ethnic and religious composition. Crimean Tatars, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Karaites, Crimeans, Bulgarians, Poles, Serbs, Germans and other peoples lived here. All of them kept their faith, traditions, customs.

I'm not going to idealize anything. Both the Valuev Circular of 1863 and the Emsky Act of 1876 are known, which restricted the publication and import from abroad of religious and socio-political literature in the Ukrainian language. But the historical context is important here. These decisions were made against the backdrop of dramatic events in Poland, the desire of the leaders of the Polish national movement to use the "Ukrainian question" to their advantage. I will add that works of art, collections of Ukrainian poems, folk songs continued to be published. Objective facts indicate that in the Russian Empire there was an active process of development of the Little Russian cultural identity within the framework of a large Russian nation that united Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians.

At the same time, among the Polish elite and some part of the Little Russian intelligentsia, ideas about the Ukrainian people separate from the Russian arose and strengthened. There was no historical basis here and could not be, so the conclusions were based on a variety of fictions. Up to the point that Ukrainians are supposedly not Slavs at all, or, conversely, that Ukrainians are real Slavs, and Russians, "Muscovites", are not. Such "hypotheses" have become increasingly used for political purposes as an instrument of rivalry between European states.

Since the end of the XIX century, the Austro-Hungarian authorities have picked up this topic - in contrast to both the Polish national movement and the Muscovite sentiments in Galicia. During the First World War, Vienna contributed to the formation of the so-called Legion of Ukrainian Sich Streltsy. Galicians suspected of sympathizing with Orthodoxy and Russia were subjected to severe repression, thrown into the Talerhof and Terezin concentration camps.

The further development of events is connected with the collapse of European empires, with a fierce Civil War that unfolded in the vast expanse of the former Russian Empire, with foreign intervention.

After the February Revolution, in March 1917, the Central Rada was created in Kiev, claiming to be the highest authority. In November 1917, in her third station wagon, she announced the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) as part of Russia.

In December 1917, representatives of the UPR arrived in Brest-Litovsk, where Soviet Russia was negotiating with Germany and its allies. At a meeting on January 10, 1918, the head of the Ukrainian delegation read a note on the independence of Ukraine. Then the Central Rada in its fourth universal proclaimed Ukraine independent.

The declared sovereignty proved to be short-lived. Just a few weeks later, the Rada delegation signed a separate agreement with the countries of the German bloc. Germany and Austria-Hungary, which were in a difficult situation, needed Ukrainian bread and raw materials. In order to ensure large-scale supplies, they have obtained an agreement to send their troops and technical personnel to the UPR. In fact, they used it as a pretext for occupation.

For those who today put Ukraine under full external control, it is worth remembering that then, in 1918, such a decision turned out to be fatal for the regime ruling in Kiev. With the direct participation of the occupying forces, the Central Rada was overthrown, and Hetman P. Skoropadsky was brought to power, proclaiming instead of the UPR the Ukrainian state, which was, in fact, under the German protectorate.

In November 1918, after the revolutionary events in Germany and Austria-Hungary, P. Skoropadsky, who had lost the support of the German bayonets, took a different course and declared that "Ukraine will be the first to act in the formation of the All-Russian Federation." However, soon the regime changed again. The time has come for the so-called Directory.

In the autumn of 1918, Ukrainian nationalists proclaimed the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR), and in January 1919 announced its unification with the Ukrainian People's Republic. In July 1919, the Ukrainian units were defeated by Polish troops, the territory of the former ZUNR was under Polish rule.

In April 1920, S. Petlyura (one of the "heroes" who are being imposed on modern Ukraine) concluded secret conventions on behalf of the UNR Directory, according to which, in exchange for military support, he gave Poland the lands of Galicia and Western Volhynia. In May 1920, the Petliurists entered Kiev in a train of Polish units. But not for long. Already in November 1920, after the armistice between Poland and Soviet Russia, the remnants of Petliura's troops surrendered to the same Poles.

The example of the UPR shows how unstable were various kinds of quasi-state formations that arose in the space of the former Russian Empire during the Civil War and the troubles. Nationalists sought to create their own separate states, the leaders of the White Movement advocated an indivisible Russia. Many republics established by supporters of the Bolsheviks could not imagine themselves outside Russia either. At the same time, for various reasons, the leaders of the Bolshevik Party sometimes literally pushed them out of Soviet Russia.

So, at the beginning of 1918, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was proclaimed, which appealed to Moscow with the question of joining Soviet Russia. V. Lenin met with the leaders of this republic and urged them to act as part of Soviet Ukraine. On March 15, 1918, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) explicitly decided to send delegates to the Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, including from the Donetsk basin, and to create at the congress "one government for the whole of Ukraine." The territories of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic in the future mainly comprised the regions of the South-East of Ukraine.

According to the Riga Treaty of 1921 between the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and Poland, the western lands of the former Russian Empire were ceded to Poland. During the interwar period, the Polish government launched an active resettlement policy, seeking to change the ethnic composition in the "eastern kres" – that's how the territories of present-day Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and part of Lithuania were called in Poland. Strict polonization was carried out, local culture and traditions were suppressed. Later, during the Second World War, radical groups of Ukrainian nationalists used this as a pretext for terror not only against the Polish, but also the Jewish, Russian population.

In 1922, when the USSR was created, one of the founders of which was the Ukrainian SSR, after a rather sharp discussion among the leaders of the Bolsheviks, Lenin's plan for the formation of a union state as a federation of equal republics was implemented. In the text of the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR, and then in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924, the right of free withdrawal of republics from the Union was introduced. Thus, the most dangerous "time bomb" was laid in the foundation of our statehood. It exploded as soon as the safety, safety mechanism disappeared in the form of the leadership role of the CPSU, which eventually collapsed from the inside. The "parade of sovereignties" has begun. On December 8, 1991, the so-called Belovezhskaya Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States was signed, which declared that "the USSR as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality ceases to exist." By the way, the CIS Charter, adopted back in 1993, has not been signed or ratified by Ukraine.

In the 20-30s of the last century, the Bolsheviks actively promoted the policy of "Korenization", which in the Ukrainian SSR was carried out as Ukrainization. It is symbolic that within the framework of this policy, with the consent of the Soviet authorities, M. Hrushevsky, a former chairman of the Central Rada, one of the ideologists of Ukrainian nationalism, who once enjoyed the support of Austria–Hungary, returned to the USSR and was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences.

"Korenization", of course, played a big role in the development and strengthening of Ukrainian culture, language, identity. At the same time, under the guise of fighting the so-called Russian great-power chauvinism, Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not consider themselves Ukrainians. Russian Russian national policy – instead of a large Russian nation, a triune people consisting of Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians - consolidated at the state level the position of three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.

In 1939, the lands previously occupied by Poland were returned to the USSR. A significant part of them is attached to Soviet Ukraine. In 1940, part of Bessarabia, occupied by Romania in 1918, and Northern Bukovina entered the Ukrainian SSR. In 1948 – the Black Sea island of Snake. In 1954, the Crimean region of the RSFSR was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR - with a gross violation of the legal norms in force at that time.

I will say separately about the fate of Subcarpathian Rus, which after the collapse of Austria-Hungary ended up in Czechoslovakia. A significant part of the locals were Rusyns. Little is remembered about this now, but after the liberation of Transcarpathia by Soviet troops, the congress of the Orthodox population of the region called for the inclusion of Subcarpathian Rus in the RSFSR or directly in the USSR - as a separate Carpatho-Russian republic. But this opinion of people was ignored. And in the summer of 1945, it was announced – as the newspaper Pravda wrote – about the historical act of reunification of Transcarpathian Ukraine "with its long-standing homeland - Ukraine."

Thus, modern Ukraine is entirely the brainchild of the Soviet era. We know and remember that to a large extent it was created at the expense of historical Russia. It is enough to compare which lands were reunited with the Russian state in the XVII century and with which territories of the Ukrainian SSR seceded from the Soviet Union.

The Bolsheviks treated the Russian people as inexhaustible material for social experiments. They dreamed of a world revolution that, in their opinion, would abolish nation-states altogether. Therefore, borders were arbitrarily cut, generous territorial "gifts" were distributed. Ultimately, what exactly guided the leaders of the Bolsheviks, shredding the country, no longer matters. You can argue about the details, the background and the logic of certain decisions. One thing is obvious: Russia has actually been robbed.

Working on this article, I was based not on some secret archives, but on open documents that contain well-known facts. The leaders of modern Ukraine and their external patrons prefer not to remember these facts. But for a variety of reasons, out of place and out of place, including abroad, today it is customary to condemn the "crimes of the Soviet regime", including even those events to which neither the CPSU, nor the USSR, nor even modern Russia have anything to do with them. At the same time, the actions of the Bolsheviks to alienate its historical territories from Russia are not considered a criminal act. It is clear why. If this has led to the weakening of Russia, then our detractors are satisfied with it.

In the USSR, the borders between the republics, of course, were not perceived as state borders, they were conditional in the framework of a single country, which, with all the attributes of the federation, was essentially highly centralized - due, I repeat, to the leading role of the CPSU. But in 1991, all these territories, and most importantly, the people who lived there, suddenly found themselves abroad. And they were already really torn away from their historical homeland.

What can I say? Everything is changing. Including countries and societies. And of course, a part of one nation in the course of its development – for a number of reasons, historical circumstances – may at some point feel, realize itself as a separate nation. How to treat it? There can be only one answer: sincerely!

Do you want to create your own state? You are welcome! But on what terms? Let me remind you here of the assessment given by one of the brightest political figures of the new Russia, the first mayor of St. Petersburg A. Sobchak. As a highly professional lawyer, he believed that any decision should be legitimate, and therefore in 1992 he expressed the following opinion: the founding republics of the Union, after they themselves annulled the 1922 Treaty, should return to the borders in which they joined the Union. All the other territorial acquisitions are a subject for discussion, negotiations, because the foundation has been annulled.

In other words, leave with what you came with. It's hard to argue with such logic. I will only add that the Bolsheviks, as I have already noted, began the arbitrary redrawing of borders even before the creation of the Union, and all manipulations with territories were carried out arbitrarily, ignoring the opinion of people.

The Russian Federation has recognized the new geopolitical realities. And not just recognized, but did a lot to make Ukraine take place as an independent country. In the difficult 90s and in the new millennium, we provided significant support to Ukraine. Kiev uses its "political arithmetic", but in 1991-2013, only due to low gas prices, Ukraine saved more than $ 82 billion for its budget, and today it literally "clings" to $1.5 billion of Russian payments for the transit of our gas to Europe. Whereas with the preservation of economic ties between our countries, the positive effect for Ukraine would amount to tens of billions of dollars.

Ukraine and Russia have been developing as a single economic system for decades and centuries. The depth of cooperation that we had 30 years ago could be envied by the EU countries today. We are natural, mutually complementary economic partners. Such a close relationship can strengthen competitive advantages and increase the potential of both countries.

And it was significant for Ukraine, including a powerful infrastructure, a gas transportation system, advanced shipbuilding, aircraft, rocket, instrument engineering, scientific, design, engineering schools of the world level. Having received such a legacy, the leaders of Ukraine, declaring independence, promised that the Ukrainian economy would become one of the leading, and the standard of living of people one of the highest in Europe.

Today, industrial high-tech giants, which Ukraine and the whole country were once proud of, are lying on their sides. Over the past 10 years, the output of mechanical engineering has fallen by 42 percent. The scale of deindustrialization and overall degradation of the economy is visible by such an indicator as electricity generation, which has almost halved in Ukraine over 30 years. And finally, according to the IMF, in 2019, even before the coronavirus epidemic, the level of per capita GDP of Ukraine amounted to less than 4 thousand dollars. This is below the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Moldova and the unrecognized Kosovo. Ukraine is now the poorest country in Europe.

Who is to blame for this? Are the people of Ukraine? Of course not. It was the Ukrainian authorities who squandered, wasted the achievements of many generations. We know how hardworking and talented the people of Ukraine are. He knows how to persistently and persistently achieve success, outstanding results. And these qualities, as well as openness, natural optimism, hospitality, have not gone away. The feelings of millions of people who treat Russia not just well, but with great love, just as we do Ukraine, remain the same.

Until 2014, hundreds of agreements and joint projects worked to develop our economies, business and cultural ties, strengthen security, and solve common social and environmental problems. They brought tangible benefits to people – both in Russia and in Ukraine. That's what we thought was the main thing. And that's why we fruitfully interacted with everyone, I emphasize, with all the leaders of Ukraine.

Even after the well-known events in Kiev in 2014, I gave instructions to the Russian Government to think over options for contacts between relevant ministries and departments in terms of preserving and supporting our economic ties. However, there was no counter-desire, so there is still no. Nevertheless, Russia is still one of the three main trading partners of Ukraine, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians come to us for work and meet here with cordiality and support. This is how the "aggressor country" turns out.

When the USSR collapsed, many in Russia and Ukraine still sincerely believed, proceeding from the fact that our close cultural, spiritual, and economic ties would certainly remain, as well as the community of the people, who have always felt united at their core. However, events - at first gradually, and then faster and faster - began to develop in a different direction.

In fact, the Ukrainian elites decided to justify the independence of their country through the denial of its past, however, with the exception of the issue of borders. They began to mythologize and rewrite history, to erase from it everything that unites us, to talk about the period when Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire and the USSR as an occupation. The common tragedy of collectivization and famine of the early 30s is being passed off as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Radicals and neo-Nazis openly and more brazenly declared their ambitions. They were indulged by both the official authorities and local oligarchs, who, having robbed the people of Ukraine, hold stolen goods in Western banks and are ready to sell their mother to save their capital. To this should be added the chronic weakness of state institutions, the position of a willing hostage of someone else's geopolitical will.

Let me remind you that quite a long time ago, long before 2014, the United States and the EU countries systematically and persistently pushed Ukraine to curtail and limit economic cooperation with Russia. As Ukraine's largest trade and economic partner, we offered to discuss emerging issues in the Ukraine–Russia–EU format. But every time we were told that Russia had nothing to do with it, they say, the issue concerns only the EU and Ukraine. De facto, Western countries have rejected repeated Russian proposals for dialogue.

Step by step, Ukraine was dragged into a dangerous geopolitical game, the purpose of which was to turn Ukraine into a barrier between Europe and Russia, into a springboard against Russia. Inevitably, the time came when the concept of "Ukraine is not Russia" was no longer satisfied. It took an "anti-Russia", which we will never put up with.

The customers of this project took as a basis the old developments of the Polish-Austrian ideologists of the creation of "anti-Moscow Russia". And there is no need to deceive anyone that this is being done in the interests of the people of Ukraine. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth never needed Ukrainian culture, much less Cossack autonomy. In Austria-Hungary, the historical Russian lands were mercilessly exploited and remained the poorest. The Nazis, who were served by collaborators, natives of the OUN-UPA, needed not Ukraine, but living space and slaves for Aryan masters.

The interests of the Ukrainian people were not thought about in February 2014. The just discontent of people caused by the most acute socio-economic problems, mistakes, inconsistent actions of the then authorities, was simply cynically used. Western countries directly intervened in the internal affairs of Ukraine, supported the coup. Radical nationalist groups acted as his battering ram. Their slogans, ideology, and outright aggressive Russophobia largely began to determine state policy in Ukraine.

Everything that has united us and brings us together so far has come under attack. First of all, the Russian language. Let me remind you that the new "Maidan" authorities first of all tried to repeal the law on state language policy. Then there was the law on "cleansing the authorities", the law on education, which practically eliminated the Russian language from the educational process.

And finally, already in May of this year, the current president introduced a bill on "indigenous peoples" to the Rada. They are recognized only by those who constitute an ethnic minority and do not have their own public education outside of Ukraine. The law has been passed. New seeds of discord have been sown. And this is in a country – as I have already noted - very complex in terms of territorial, national, linguistic composition, in the history of its formation.

An argument may be made: if you are talking about a single big nation, a triune people, then what difference does it make who people consider themselves to be - Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusians. I completely agree with this. Moreover, the definition of nationality, especially in mixed families– is the right of every person, free in his choice.

But the fact is that the situation in Ukraine today is completely different, since we are talking about a forced change of identity. And the most disgusting thing is that Russians in Ukraine are being forced not only to renounce their roots, from generations of ancestors, but also to believe that Russia is their enemy. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the course of forced assimilation, the formation of an ethnically pure Ukrainian state, aggressively disposed towards Russia, is comparable in its consequences to the use of weapons of mass destruction against us. Russian Russian people may decrease by hundreds of thousands, or even millions, as a result of such a crude, artificial gap between Russians and Ukrainians.

Our spiritual unity was also hit. As in the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a new church division was started. Without hiding that they pursue political goals, the secular authorities rudely interfered in church life and brought the matter to schism, to the seizure of churches, beating priests and monks. Even the broad autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church while maintaining spiritual unity with the Moscow Patriarchate categorically does not suit them. They must destroy this visible, centuries-old symbol of our kinship at all costs.

I think it is also natural that representatives of Ukraine repeatedly vote against the UN General Assembly resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism. Marches and torchlight processions are held under the protection of the official authorities in honor of the unfinished war criminals from the SS formations. Mazepa, who betrayed everyone in a circle, Petlyura, who paid for Polish patronage with Ukrainian lands, Bandera, who collaborated with the Nazis, are put on the rank of national heroes. They are doing everything to erase from the memory of young generations the names of real patriots and winners, who have always been proud of in Ukraine.

For Ukrainians who fought in the ranks of the Red Army, in partisan detachments, the Great Patriotic War was precisely the Patriotic War, because they defended their home, their great common Homeland. More than two thousand became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Among them are legendary pilot Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, fearless sniper, defender of Odessa and Sevastopol Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, brave partisan commander Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak. This indomitable generation fought, gave their lives for our future, for us. To forget about their feat means to betray their grandfathers, mothers and fathers.

The "anti-Russia" project was rejected by millions of residents of Ukraine. Crimeans and residents of Sevastopol have made their historical choice. And people in the South-East peacefully tried to defend their position. But all of them, including children, were registered as separatists and terrorists. They began to threaten ethnic cleansing and the use of military force. And the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk took up arms to protect their home, language, and their lives. Were they left with a different choice - after the pogroms that swept through the cities of Ukraine, after the horror and tragedy of May 2, 2014 in Odessa, where Ukrainian neo-Nazis burned people alive, staged a new Khatyn? The followers of Bandera were ready to commit the same massacre in the Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Lugansk. They are still not abandoning such plans. Waiting in the wings. But they won't wait.

The coup d'etat and the subsequent actions of the Kiev authorities inevitably provoked confrontation and civil war. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the total number of victims associated with the conflict in Donbass has exceeded 13 thousand people. Among them are the elderly, children. Terrible, irreparable losses.

Russia has done everything to stop fratricide. The Minsk agreements were concluded, which are aimed at a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donbass. I am convinced that they still have no alternative. In any case, no one has withdrawn their signatures either under the Minsk "Package of Measures" or under the relevant statements of the leaders of the "Normandy format" countries. No one initiated the revision of the UN Security Council Resolution of February 17, 2015.

In the course of official negotiations, especially after being "pulled back" by Western partners, representatives of Ukraine periodically declare their "full commitment" to the Minsk agreements, but in fact they are guided by the position of their "unacceptability". We do not intend to seriously discuss either the special status of Donbass or guarantees for the people living here. They prefer to exploit the image of a "victim of external aggression" and trade in Russophobia. They are staging bloody provocations in the Donbass. In short, they attract the attention of external patrons and owners by any means.

Apparently, and I am becoming more and more convinced of this: Kiev simply does not need Donbass. Why? Because, firstly, the residents of these regions will never accept the orders that they have tried and are trying to impose by force, blockade, threats. And secondly, the results of both Minsk-1 and Minsk-2, which give a real chance to peacefully restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine by directly agreeing with the DPR and LPR with the mediation of Russia, Germany and France, contradict the entire logic of the anti-Russia project. And he can only hold on to the constant cultivation of the image of an internal and external enemy. And I will add - under the protectorate, under the control of the Western powers.

Which is what happens in practice. First of all, it is the creation of an atmosphere of fear in Ukrainian society, aggressive rhetoric, pandering to neo-Nazis, militarization of the country. Along with this, it is not just complete dependence, but direct external management, including the supervision of foreign advisers over the Ukrainian authorities, special services and armed forces, the military "development" of the territory of Ukraine, the deployment of NATO infrastructure. It is no coincidence that the aforementioned scandalous law on "indigenous peoples" was adopted under the guise of large-scale NATO exercises in Ukraine.

Under the same cover, the absorption of the remnants of the Ukrainian economy and the exploitation of its natural resources are also taking place. The sale of agricultural land is not far off, and who will buy them is obvious. Yes, from time to time Ukraine is allocated financial resources, loans, but under its own conditions and interests, under preferences and benefits for Western companies. By the way, who will pay these debts? Apparently, it is assumed that this will have to be done not only by today's generation of Ukrainians, but also by their children, grandchildren, and, probably, great-grandchildren.

The Western authors of the anti-Russia project are setting up the Ukrainian political system in such a way that presidents, deputies, and ministers change, but the attitude towards separation from Russia and enmity with it remains unchanged. The main campaign slogan of the incumbent president was to achieve peace. He came to power on this. The promises turned out to be lies. Nothing has changed. And in some ways, the situation in Ukraine and around Donbass has also degraded.

There is no place for sovereign Ukraine in the anti-Russia project, as well as for political forces that are trying to defend its real independence. Those who talk about reconciliation in Ukrainian society, about dialogue, about finding a way out of the impasse that has arisen, are labeled as "pro-Russian" agents.

I repeat, for many in Ukraine, the "anti-Russia" project is simply unacceptable. And there are millions of such people. But they are not allowed to raise their heads. They were practically deprived of the legal opportunity to defend their point of view. They are intimidated, driven underground. For their beliefs, for the spoken word, for openly expressing their position, they are not only persecuted, but also killed. Murderers, as a rule, go unpunished.

Only the one who hates Russia is now declared the "right" patriot of Ukraine. Moreover, as we understand it, it is proposed to build the entire Ukrainian statehood exclusively on this idea in the future. Hatred and bitterness – and world history has proved this more than once – is a very shaky basis for sovereignty, fraught with many serious risks and grave consequences.

We understand all the tricks associated with the anti-Russia project. And we will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia. And to those who make such an attempt, I want to say that in this way they will destroy their country.

The current authorities in Ukraine like to refer to the Western experience, consider it as a role model. So look at how Austria and Germany, the USA and Canada live next to each other. Similar in ethnic composition, culture, in fact with the same language, they remain sovereign states, with their own interests, with their own foreign policy. But this does not prevent their closest integration or allied relations. They have very conditional, transparent borders. And citizens, crossing them, feel at home. They create families, study, work, and do business. By the way, just like millions of natives of Ukraine who now live in Russia. For us, they are our own, relatives.

Russia is open to dialogue with Ukraine and is ready to discuss the most difficult issues. But it is important for us to understand that the partner defends his national interests, and does not serve others, is not an instrument in someone's hands to fight us.

We respect the Ukrainian language and traditions. To the desire of Ukrainians to see their state free, safe, prosperous.

I am convinced that the true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible precisely in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human, and civilizational ties have been formed for centuries, go back to the same origins, and have been tempered by common trials, achievements, and victories. Our kinship is passed down from generation to generation. It is in the hearts, in the memory of people living in modern Russia and Ukraine, in the blood ties that unite millions of our families. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. After all, we are one people.

Now these words are perceived by some with hostility. They can be interpreted in any way. But many people will hear me. And I will say one thing: Russia has never been and will never be "anti-Ukraine". And what Ukraine should be is up to its citizens to decide.

Vladimir Putin