SpaceDogs

This is from the DPR MFA Telegram:

#Officials

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing foreigners who share Russian spiritual and moral values to apply for temporary residence

The presidential decree grants the right to apply for a temporary residence permit without considering the established quota and without submitting proof of Russian language proficiency or knowledge of Russian history.

The document applies to those coming from countries that impose destructive neoliberal principles that contradict Russian traditional values. According to the decree, the list of such countries will be determined by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I’ve heard this sentiment before a while back from a person on Tiktok (unfortunately I cannot remember their name) and it has stuck with me since I first saw it because it is undeniably true.

People’s unchecked empathy will end up getting us hurt. I say this because of what is happening in Venezuela. I see a lot of people, many I followed until now, who are very pro-Palestine now spreading misinformation about Venezuela and its election as a show of solidarity and empathy. This is not right and is incredibly frustrating. Not every “Free [insert country]” movement needs support. Yes, your empathy and want for justice for Palestine and Palestinians is well placed but do not extend that to every movement you see because it might end up backfiring big time. The same people you oppose for the genocide being inflicted on Palestine are the people you are supporting in Venezuela, how do they not make this connection? It’s the lack of critical thinking alongside their empathy that really gets me. These people claim to be anti-imperialist, and I truly believe that they are in their hearts, but at the end of the day they are also supporting a very imperialist coup attempt in Venezuela because their government tells them Maduro is a dictator.

There is also a call to “listen to Venezuelans” but fail to listen to Venezuelans who are actively opposing the coup on the streets. If they let their empathy run wild without critical thought they end up supporting globally detrimental movements that will end up causing so much fucking damage, and when the deed is done I hope they’re happy.

Sorry for this rant but seeing people I liked and respected, many of them artists, falling for this crap and spreading misinformation and propaganda to their large audiences is incredibly frustrating and disheartening. Pro-Palestine and yet you support Maria Machado? Give me a fucking break…

Has anyone watched the new episode from First Thought/JT?

My procrastinating will be the death of me, I swear. Being a university student with this problem is very VERY bad, while I am not failing I know I can do better if I just gave myself more time but for some reason I don’t. I always leave things to the last minute and it fucking sucks.

Yes, I am aware that procrastination can be due to mental health (like ADHD) and I am pretty sure mine is because of that but I’ve tried stimulants and they did not work (they actually gave me massive mood swings). I believe that I can tame this problem by changing my behaviour and building good habits but I don’t know how. Do you have experience with procrastination? Any tips you can share to help me deal with it?

I always knew my procrastination was a problem (I beat myself up over it constantly) but Spring/Summer term has opened my eyes to just how bad it actually is. This term is incredibly accelerated (13 weeks condensed down to only 13 days) which means procrastinating hits even harder. I am keeping my head above water but I know if I don’t figure something out soon I’ll just sink into despair. My procrastinating is hitting my self-esteem more than it is hitting my grades, if that makes sense. I am being realistic with myself, 100-200 level courses aren’t a big deal so if I don't get an A I won’t beat myself over it, but I would prefer if my bad habits didn’t carry on to higher level classes (300-400) where masters/PhD programs will be looking at.

I do want to end my undergrad on a high note so might as well start now. Thankfully my professors are pretty accommodating so far but that can only do so much, you know what I mean?

This happened a few days ago when I was going to do my taxes with my mom and stepdad. We were talking about my home life and school and whatnot, and they asked me what I wanted to do once I got my credentials. I was vague about it and just straight up told them I don’t like to talk about my future endeavours, but what I did tell them was that I was following in the footsteps of people I admire and hope to achieve what they have. They understood this and thought that was a fine thing to do, although they don’t know the people I admire so maybe their opinions would change, then again I don’t think they’d mind either. Anyway this conversation led to my mother saying how she was talking to my stepdad about me being a communist (I “came out” to her a month ago) and my ideals and how now she believes she might be a communist too.

Her reasoning was that she believes in equality, hates how wealth is currently distributed, and stuff like that. She then said she doesn't believe a waitress should be paid more than a doctor but the wealth disparity should not be as large as it is. My stepdad then brought up Cuba as an example, they both recently (ish) visited and said that waitresses in Cuba get paid more than doctors because they receive tips. He also said that their tour guide was an engineer who did tours on the side to make tips.

He’s made comments about Cuba before a while back during a conversation about how doctors who immigrate to Canada can’t work as doctors, I then brought up how amazing Cuban doctors are and how they are exported to help in other countries. My stepdad then said that Cuban doctors aren’t allowed to leave Cuba and are essentially extorted by the government (something about how the doctor’s family will be “held hostage” in Cuba if the doctor tries to leave). I was confused by this comment but just brushed it off because what? I’ve never heard of this before and I was not about to entertain it.

Anyway, back to the present, while my mom calls herself a full communist my stepdad says he thinks he’s in the middle because he likes the freedom capitalism grants but hates the inequality. I didn’t say anything but in my head all I could think was “that is an inherent trait of capitalism, though.” My mom says she wants people to be equal and my stepdad made a weird comment about the “Great Reset,” which I don’t know much about but isn’t it a conspiracy theory? He said something about how they are trying to make everyone “equal” so they can’t own property or something like that. I didn’t say anything to this, I didn’t even push him to tell me more. This was just weird all around haha. Again, I didn’t push them on any of this because I am trying to pick and choose my battles very carefully.

I know my stepdad has apparently been doing research into how rich people actually get rich (my immediate thought was “exploitation”) and he is trying to do just that. He is very “obsessed” with becoming rich and with that he is trying to pursue real estate… Like become a landlord company. I have talked about this quite a while ago, maybe a year? And it still bothers me. I don’t feel personally at fault for this and I don't feel like a hypocrite anymore but this endeavour does mess with me. Thankfully my negative feelings are not lingering, not as much as they used to, but whenever it is talked about I can’t help but feel bad. They told me one day I would inherit this business and I straight up said I don’t think I was interested in that, like at all. They are fine with that, thankfully. I know they want to buy a property close to whichever schools I end up going to for my masters and PhD as they want to both help me as much as they can and do their business thing.

In any case I love my parents but sometimes they confuse the hell out of me.

I thought this would be interesting to share with everyone on the Grad. My school life and family life are weird as hell.

Fun Fact! My mom also loves history documentaries and seems to have a vested and sympathetic interest in the Romanovs (she said Nick was a great dad and how they died was so sad), so her calling herself a communist is a little funny to me but I am more than happy giving her the benefit of the doubt considering all the docs she watches are super western and propagandized to hell. Maybe I can find a documentary that tells the true story about the Romanovs and share it with her.

My professor even gave me an extension too and I was sure I’d finish it with relative quality but my grandma screwed over those plans and now I’m on the day before the due date freaking out since I have yet to actually write about the genocidal actions taken against the Donbas. I sent a lot on my intro going over what definition i was going to use (thee UN) and then did an overview of Euromaidan, every time I sat down to write my stomach would ache and I’d feel physically ill. That’s why I asked for the extension, I thought two extra days would be enough but instead of using that time effectively to talk about the far right and the Donbas (and whether the actions taken are genocidal) Ive been having to cater to my grandmas whims even though I told her I didn’t want to do any work around the house because of school. She clearly doesn't take my academics seriously as this whole weekend and Monday Ive been bossed around the whole time and have barely been able to do much of anything for my paper passed Euromaidan. My cousin is also visiting which has my dog acting up and that just means everyone is yelling at me even more. This paper is a disaster and I know its not going to be the quality I had hoped it would be. No one ever leaves me alone when I need it an I can’t ask my professor for an extra day, that would be embarrassing. It’s due tomorrow and all I can hope for is he doesn't fail my ass.

So why am I wasting time writing here? I have to utilize my panic attack somehow. I know a good paper is a finished one but, Jesus Christ, I wish i had more time, I just wish everyone would leave me alone. I know I have to stop caring but it’s hard. I don't want to do bad but I may just have to take the hit academically and maybe grovel at my professor feet so he’ll go easy on me grade wise.

I am genuinely crying and mildly hyperventilating. Tomorrow I have a paper consultation meeting with my professor where I have to give him a 250 word research paper proposal. what I have to do is propose a research topic (a research question) for me to write my paper on. We can choose whatever we want as long as it relates to the class content, which is genocide. Many of you probably already know this information if you’ve read my posts related to school, you’ll also understand the amount of “animosity” I am facing even if it’s fairly mild/covert. I have already talked to my professor briefly about the research topic I want and he sort of approved of it at the time but this consultation goes deeper. I have to prove to him that I have done enough research already (I have to actually give him two sources, one primary and another secondary, related to the event to show I’ve already started) and that my topic is appropriate.

This sounds like a non-issue and it probably is, but the topic I am going to write about is the Donbas and whether what happened/is happening there constitutes a genocide. I have talked about the far-right issue in Ukraine and brought it up to my professor, most of you know this, and it resulted with that awful email. I am still standing firm on writing this paper but I am terrified about how to defend it. I know I have to be neutral and matter-of-fact, but I also know the stance both my professor and the school has so having to do this is making me panic. What if they grade me based on that. I want to word this proposal in a way that wont get me in trouble but I don’t know how. It’s not just my written words that are being graded but also the verbal aspect of the consultation (he is grading both the proposal and the actual research paper).

I know I am doing my proposal last minute, I have no real problem gathering the sources or at least the two needed for this meeting. It’s the wording and what I have to say that scares me. I don’t know why but when I came down to my office to start writing my proposal (editing it in the morning as the meeting is around 5:00pm) my heart rate skyrocketed along with anxiety. Then the waterworks. I am terrified at how this will go and if he will penalize me just for the subject and my demeanour. I have never been good with spoken words as I have always been a shy and pathetic person and I worry that I will short circuit during this meeting. I don’t want to come across as an enemy of the school and state, if that makes sense.

I don’t even know why I’m writing this. It’s mostly for some catharsis, really. Sorry this is messy but my emotions are at an all time high.

Edit: I just want to get through this meeting without crying…

This is mainly for Portuguese comrades as they’re probably the most familiar with him but anyone can answer. I see this man constantly on SIC Notícias and all he really talks about is the Ukraine/Russia/NATO war. He’s also got a segment called “Guerra Fria” which comes on frequently enough. Mind you, I can’t understand most of what he and the other people say but I can read the headlines underneath and can pick up context words. He’s always talking about Ucrânia and that got me curious about him due to how seemingly passionate he is about the topic.

I looked him up and from what I can gather he’s a journalist (obviously) who used to be a communist and lived in the USSR. Apparently his time living in the Soviet Union pushed him away from communism and he is now a staunch anti-communist, someone on Twitter called this being “vaccinated.” He has a blog and he even made an entry back in 2014 about the neo-Nazi problem in Ukraine. He switched up real quick. In 2022 he even said that the difference between Putin and Hitler is that Putin has nuclear weapons… what?

Obviously there’s the language barrier (there shouldn’t be but my family was not great in teaching me) that’s keeping me from having a deeper and better analysis so that’s why I’m asking here. Is anyone else more familiar with this guy? Why is he such a big deal in Portugal? Also does anyone know why he’s like this? Is there anything about his cohost Nuno Rogeiro?

Maybe this isn’t important, but I get annoyed every time I see him on screen and I want to know if anyone else feels the same. I ask now because he was brought on to talk about the recent terrorist attack in Moscow, I don’t know what he said about it, or how he feels, but he did talk about it.