Mint már írtam a Google Groups-ba, szerintem az ilyen végtelenül egyszerű fórum áttekinthetőbb és jobb megoldás, tehát ha valaki szeretne itt is lehet(ne) kommunikálni...

Üdv,

Zsolt

So, here it comes:

< Back to 68k.news US front page
Ukraine peace summit: Why some countries refused to sign the plan

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1]

EXPLAINER

Major Global South nations cited Russia's absence or Israel's presence as reasons for not accepting the communique.

Published On 17 Jun 202417 Jun 2024

About 100 delegations from countries and international organisations attended the Switzerland-hosted Summit on Peace in Ukraine last weekend, aimed at crafting a path that many participants said could pave the way to ending Russia's war on its smaller neighbour.

But while a vast majority of participants signed on to the short communique issued at the end of the summit, several key nations did not. The two-day diplomatic summit took place in the Burgenstock resort in Stansstad, Switzerland, and was attended by United States Vice President Kamala Harris alongside leaders from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, and diplomats from many other nations.

Here is more about the Ukraine peace communique and why some countries did not sign on.
What did the Ukraine peace communique say?

The communique laid out what it said was a "common vision" on "crucial aspects", including that:

All nuclear installations, including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, should be safe according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) principles and under IAEA supervision. The power plant, Europe's largest, has been at the centre of Russia-Ukraine battles since the early days of the war, sparking concerns about the potential for a nuclear accident.
The free flow of Ukrainian agricultural products should be allowed to interested third countries. "Global food security depends on uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of food products," the communique said. The document described attacks on merchant ships and civilian port infrastructure in the Black Sea and Azov Sea as "unacceptable".
All prisoners must be exchanged and all Ukrainian civilians who have been unlawfully displaced should be returned to Ukraine. In particular, the communique said, "all deported and unlawfully displaced Ukrainian children, and all other Ukrainian civilians who were unlawfully detained, must be returned to Ukraine". According to Ukraine, 20,000 children have been taken by Russian authorities during the war.

Who signed the joint communique on Ukraine?

In all, 82 delegations signed on to support the communique. Swiss President Viola Amherd told a news conference the "great majority" of participants agreed to the document.

Some of these include: Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Parliament, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Norway, Palau, Qatar, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK and the US.
Which countries did not sign on?

India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates attended the summit, represented by foreign ministers and envoys, but were among those who did not sign the joint communique.
Brazil attended the Ukraine summit as an observer, but did not back the communique.
Russia was not invited to the summit, which Moscow dismissed as "futile". China also did not attend the two-day event. Pakistan, which counts China as its closest ally, was invited but chose not to attend.

Why did they not sign on?

India: In a statement, Secretary (West) of India's Ministry of External Affairs Pavan Kapoor said that New Delhi decided to avoid association with the joint communique because of Russia's absence from the summit. He said India believes that peace in Ukraine requires bringing together "all stakeholders and a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict".
Saudi Arabia: Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, shared similar concerns while delivering his statement at the summit. "We believe it is important that the international community encourage any step towards serious negotiations, which will require difficult compromises as part of a roadmap that leads to peace," he said. "And here, it is essential to emphasise that any credible process will need Russia's participation."
South Africa: South Africa's reasons for not backing the communique were different. The country's National Security Advisor Sydney Mufamadi wrote in a statement that "it was surprising that at this conference, Israel is present and participating", five days after a United Nations-backed commission accused Israel of committing war crimes against Palestinians. Mufamadi questioned the legitimacy of a communique that its sponsors argued was driven by "respect for international law" when Israel has been accused by many UN officials of violating international law. South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza in a case at the International Court of Justice.

< Back to 68k.news US front page

Solutions? Well, there is one... chat in EMAIL, just using plain email with whatever client software you prefer (or used Delta Chat to have a chat-like interface for it), and for audio-visual conversations use mirotalk or briefing, the links for these latter two you can search for or I can tell you in private). Chance is, once these solutions get fat, too, they will also start trying to monetize them. Interesting, how people are so stupid that they do not understand that this life is NOT about money, power, or fame. None of this you can bring with you to the grave, all these are ephemeral, passing, shallow, without value or substance.

Focus on morals, love and care. Those are worth living for. Steer clear of these greedy people, life is short not to live it to the fullest. Peace

I thought it might be useful to share my advice for you to have a peaceful mind when it comes to personal computing. Probably singing to the choir, but who knows, some of you might find these thoughts useful.

1. Get a home. Yeah, I know, the new meme is "digital nomad", and sure, it has its perks, but sooner or later you will really get tired of moving around, maybe you want to settle down somewhere, have a family, have kids, you know, the usual stuff. Once you already calmed down a bit and had enough of rumbling around like a headless chicken, settle somewhere and get a home. Done? Good.

2. Once you got a home, make sure it is big enough to have a desktop computer and it accessories (monitor, keyboard, pointing device, printers/scanners, webcam, etc) with it. It shouldn't take up too much space, and most likely you already have a home like that, but just in case... Done? Good. Oh, obviously, make sure your home has a reliable elecricity service provider, computers need that stuff, you know. Also make sure to have some reliable cable going into your home. Wireless stuff is cute, but it is never as reliable or fast as good-old cable. The faster the better, if reasonably priced. If providers are bonkers, go for some of their cheapest offering, guess what, it will still be much faster than 56k modems and the Internet Veterans grew up on that and they are fine and dandy...

3. Okay, so you finally got a life, got a home, all set. Now what? Get yourself a so-called desktop computer. From now on "desktop computer" = "PC". Remember that. Yeah, that bulky old stuff. Don't get bothered that lots of strange looking young kids also look for that stuff, they call them "gaming rig" or some other esotheric names. Ignore all the fuzz and buzz about them, stay calm, and state your objective to the salesperson: "I want to buy a PC." Now, most probably you will face an uphill struggle, as the entire industry is hell-bent to dissuade you from this, but stay on course, don't bulge. Insist until you get yourself a cheap, superfast, super powerful PC. They will try to veer you off by selling you laptops, smartphones, tablets and other gimmicks. Resist the temptation and the marketing bovine excrement, stay focused, and walk home with a desktop PC dammit. Yeah, resist the Apple/Macintosh temptation, too. It is a tricky rabbithole, avoid it. Also, if possible try to buy a PC without Microsoft Windows pre-installed on it. You won't need it, so do not pay for that expensive license. If MS Windows is bundled with the PC buy it with it, it won't do much harm anyway, but for God's sake avoid the trap to use that crap. See next point...

Bonus 3.1: if you wanna have the best of both worlds with some compromise, get yourself a "mini PC", anything that is decently portable yet has many ports, preferably even slots for accessories and peripherials, in other words a hybrid, a proper PC that has adequate cooling system and could run continuously and uninterruptedly for years if needed. Pros? Portable. Throw it in a backpack and go. Cons? Much less versatile than a PC, probably also more expensive.

Bonus 3.2: if looking for a mini PC, look for one that has an optical drive (DVD burner or such) built-in (will come handy for data storage, multimedia and secure boot)

4. Okay, you have your corner with a comfortable/ergonomic (office) chair, a table, a PC (desktop computer) with all the necessary input-output devices, accessories, peripherials cabled, attached, arranged, all is fine and dandy. Now what? Probably that PC comes with a storage device (a hard disk, SSD or NvME drive, or something even fancier than that), and an operating system on it, which is probably Microsoft ("MS" from now on) Windows, probably the newest version of it. That's not very helpful, but wait, we will finetune this system so that the software you will be using is safe, fast, private, and in general the best of all worlds.

You are aiming for the sky, don't you? You do not like compromises, you want it all. Good.

I might mention considerations about the hardware in more detail later, now let us focus on software basics. We will elaborate both hardware and software, as well as networking, in detail, later.

Recommended operating systems? Linux, for sure. Okay, but which flavor, because there are zillions. I would say either Linux Mint (if you come from MS Windows in your previous life), or Pop!OS, if you come from Apple/Macintosh/OSX, Android, or simply want "the best of the best". Don't be scared by the stupid names these distros have, they have nothing to do with either mint tea or pop-corn, and most good Linux distros have weird names. If a Linux distro has a fancy name, it probably sucks. Trust me on that.

These two (Mint, Pop!OS) you can test before you install it (if at all, see later), that's why that DVD drive may come in handy later, but you can also start the PC without those, simply with a USB stick (see later). The options are legio.

Bonus 4.1: if you really want to become a pro, try Puppy Linux. Details later, but the main point is, it is the lightest, most powerful little puppy out there, it can save your life down the line, so I will insist that you learn about it and get yourself a Puppy usb/cd for rescue and other tasks for later.

5. Okay, so you are almost there. Got your home, your PC corner in it, plugged in, running as planned, and have tried some of these Linuxes and you love them. You chose one of them, probably Pop!OS, because you couldn't care less about MS Windows anymore (see later why), you are already out of the Apple ecosystem, too (see later why), and you want a fresh start. Surely, Pop!OS will be the best no-compromise, fun and powerful OS ("OS" = Operating System, the software that is the base for all your computer-related activity on a computer), and let us assume you alrady installed it on your PC. All is set!

From now on you may go on your own, you may not need any more advice. I will give you some anyway...

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

9. The Update Mafia

Do not fall for the industry tricks, stay free.
Remember the good-ol' times when you bought something and it was yours, forever? When you owned things? Fast forward to today, and realize that you only rent things, you do not own anything like before.

It is true for material possessions as well, but also true for services and virtual goods. Thanks to the invention of planned obsolescence, yield management, and now the subscription model, you are hard to find anything that you can really own with a peace of mind...

So, long story short, here is the takeaway: focus on anything that you can still own, cherish them, hunt them down, and try to get out of the eternal treadmill.

Here are some ideas.

Try to live without gadgets, vehicles, fixed assets. It is hard, but possible.
If you need to live with material possessions, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I really need it? If not, you are done. Move on. If yes, read on.
Can I rent it? If yes (cheaper, better), do it. If not, read on.
Can I buy it, in the real ownership sense of the word? Fantastic. More likely not, so read on.
Who is behind this thing? Do your due diligence: if dandy, buy it. If not, read on.
Look for competitors. Found a good one? Done. Cannot find one? Read on.
Exit strategy? What if it fails? Backup plans? Done. No exit? Give up.

Some practical advice for the modern man:

Do not fall for the "you need to be updated to be safe" trick. Update less often.
Do not buy the newest things, ever. Wait and buy the second-newest thing.
If the second-newest thing is still an overkill, look for the oldest solution.
If neither the second-newest nor the oldest works, look for an optimized solution.
Use this logic for both hardware and software.

If you need concrete advice for a specific case, contact me in private.
prev ««« 2024-03-01 »»» next

E-mail? 001 (at-sign) 368999 (dot) xyz!

8. Ignore "AI" and value "RI".

Realize the ultimate futility of outsourcing intelligence.
Think about AI (Artificial Intelligence) for a moment. Stand back, and ask the jolly joker question: "what is it?". Well, it is what its name indicates: it is artificial intelligence. You, reading these lines, on the other hand, are RI (Real Intelligence), or sometimes called HI (Human Intelligence). You can read heaps of analyses about both, but instead of making the question even more complicated than it is, let us find the solution in the other direction. Let us use "reductio ad absurdum", as a mathematical tool, to apply for this philosophical question. Let us assume for a moment, that having developed AI is actually beneficial for you, me, anyone: mankind.

Let us see if the inception, the nurturing, the development of AI and the ultimate dependence on it would make our lives better. AI could help us, just like automation helped us, to outsource our brainwork. Just like a chess computer can calculate a better strategy to win a chess game, just like a robotized factory can churn out more/better pieces in a given time-frame, AI is relieving us from the chores, leaving more time for fun. Is that really what we want from life?

Let us assume for the moment, that yes is the answer, we want more fun, less chores. Thus, with the help of AI, we outsource the cumbersome, the boring, the tedious tasks and focus on the tasks that need higher intelligence. But hold on: isn't intelligence exactly the one feature we tried to outsource? How can be more left of it for us? Let us outsource that, too! Back to AI, and let us develop it to a level where it can also make those decisions instead of us. Alas, this line of thinking has no end in sight: where is the line where we say stop, after this step it is us who will make the final decision? This leads to an infinite line leading to zero thinking and decision-making left for us, the biological brain.

In addition to the how question, there are others: who, why, when, where should be allowed to use AI? If it were all peace that is all cool and dandy, but alas, our species is anything BUT peace, it is at constant war with itself. If I am allowed to be helped by AI, is my enemy also allowed to use the same or better AI tools? Who should be allowed to use AI? Oops. Why should I use AI, instead of relying on my own human intelligence? To gain advantage? Okay, then we go into an escalating rabbit-hole that has no end in sight, only mutual destruction and final annihilation of ourselves. The answer to the when question if obviously: the sooner the better. It is a competition for time, if the goal is to compete, to gain an upper hand, to fight our fellow human brothers and sisters. Again, it will lead to a vortex out of which the only exit is Armageddon. Finally, where should it be allowed? It is linked to the who question: who will decide where it should be allowed?

Even if we disregard the military use of AI (which would and will be the primary use of this technology, just like any of the others that came before it), even for our own peaceful use, it is detrimental to our own cerebral health and mental acuity. We are born biologically, we will die biologically (let's hope so, because "eternal life" is a curse in itself), and in between these two end-points, we should maximize the time we spend living biologically. So, every non-biological tool that steals time from your biological existence, is not helping, in fact, rather, leaving you less time to enjoy your biological existence. It is not about the quantity, rather the quality of time you have living.

Looking at the questions in their entirety it should be clear that AI, together with genetic research, chemical and nuclear weapons, and similar tools which only serve to continue animosity, hatred, warmongering in our species homo sapiens sapiens, are the worst uses of our innate, biological, evolved intelligence. If you zoom out enough, you arrive back to the same teaching found in every philosophy and religion: do not think! This AI saga, along with all the other sagas, are part of our inability to understand that by thinking we get nowhere. Thinking is a paradox. You can arrive to the conclusion of the futility of thinking even by simply thinking: realize that the entire world is a paradox, and by thinking we only reveal only local, limited non-paradoxes, while the infinite rest remains paradox. You can also arrive to this conclusion simply by not thinking.

AI is an ultimate thinking tool. Think about it for awhile. Pun intended!
prev ««« 2024-03-01 »»» next

E-mail? 001 (at-sign) 368999 (dot) xyz!

7. Avoid addiction to anything.

Realize the addictive nature of things and phenomena, and avoid them at all costs.
What is addiction?? Addiction is the process when you lose control over your time, your attention, your life. How to identify a process, an action, a deed, a thought, anything, as an addition? Ask yourself the following questions: when I engage with this "thing", is there a built-in mechanism that makes me either a) to continue it, or b) to re-visit it again in the future? In other words: is this thing programmed in a "positive feedback loop", ie. to make me repeat my actions, tied to this thing?

If the answer is "yes", then it is an addictive substance, program, or activity, and you should avoid it at the outset. Do not even play with it for a short period of time, thinking you will have the willpower to get out of the spiral, of the vortex, of the loop. Realize for what it is, and do not even start the process. Get out of it quickly if sucked in. Only deal with non-addictive things.

Examples of addictive substances and programs: alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, any drugs in general; food (gluttony); gambling, dreaming about getting rich quick or without work, charging interest; getting sucked in the pointless "money, power, fame" devilish triangle of deception; all "forbidden" or "secret" things; reading the news; computer games; social media, vanity, pride; all competitive games (like chess, or Olympics, or team sports, etc), anything that has a positive feedback loop (thus either it rewards you or punishes you, making you go back for more rewards or to take revenge). Keep your mind always in the middle, independent, free and neutral. Do not listen to slander. Never take sides, do not bet on anything, or the future. Remain the observer, the eternal traveler, the one who has no stake in anything, except your clear mind.
prev ««« 2024-02-29 »»» next

6. Avoid five topics

Avoid five divisive/explosive topics: Politics, Religion, Race, Sex, Money.
There are five topics that are divisive, and which never in human history have ever resulted in peace, understanding, or agreement between people. In other words: these are topics which are absolutely futile to discuss, to debate, to argue pro or con any side, idea, concept, etc. History has shown that millions of people have debated these for millennia, and never ever got anywhere while doing so. The only result of these pointless, divisive debates was war, destruction, mayhem, disorder, unhappiness. Be wise, and when you realize that a conversation with someone(s) is veering into the direction of these five topics, respectfully resist the temptation to partake, stay away from these topics, do not discuss them in public.

Remember, there is definitely nothing positive resulting in discussing these topics with anyone, so you are not left out of anything good. In fact, you do a great service to yourself, and to mankind, by steering clear of these dangerous topics. I hope you will be a happier person by doing so.
prev ««« 2024-02-19 »»» next

5. VR/AR goggles

They are fun, but most likely not worth your time.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) goggles are a hype. People do not want to wear goggles of any kind. If people have to strap something to their heads, they find it uncomfortable after a short period of time. Also, people care more about how they look to oothers. Most people try one and then either return it or put it on their shelves and forget about it. There might be some special use cases for professional use though, but for the general public it is just a hype.
prev ««« 2024-02-18 »»» next

E-mail? 001 (at-sign) 368999 (dot) xyz!

This is 1-4 to stay in the 5000 characters limit, more coming later...

_________________________________________
*****************************************
=========================================

WELCOME

4. Social media alternatives

Ditch social media.
Instead of wasting your time on social media, make your own free website on a free IP address (a cheap paid domain is a wise addition though), get a free email address, and chat in real-time with your friends on IRC, with Seamonkey. It has a Composer module to edit and publish your own websites; a Browser to browse the web; a superb Email module to check your e-mail; and Address Book to manage your contact list; and an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client, to chat with the whole world. It is free and it does not collect information about you, it respects your privacy. It is the only Internet Suite from Mozilla that survived, it is one of the oldest browsers on the net. For voice- and video-chat use some free and secure messengers (e.g. Simplex, Session, Jami, Briar, Wire, etc), or use similarly free browser-based alternatives such as Jitsi. If safe-to-use privacy-respecting social media is still needed, use Mastodon, a distributed and federated network. Pick your instance, create a free profile, and congregate with like-minded people there, but be careful: all social media is, by design, addictive.

Contact me for the detailed instructions how to get started, if needed.
prev ««« 2024-02-17 »»» next

3. CGI/AI videos
old cinema
Watch old films with real humans in them. The older the better.
People are interested mostly in other people. Thus, normal people would prefer to see a film made, directed, acted and edited by people, that tells a story about fellow people. So, with all that CGI and AI assisted cinematography today, do not be surprised if people will rather dust off a nice 1950's or 1930's movie instead of watching the newest films made by the cyborgs.
prev ««« 2024-02-16 »»» next

2. All-electric or self-driving cars?
ev
Use petrol, gas or diesel vehicles, avoid fully electric ones. Hybrids can be cautiously considered.
Practicality, common sense and less individualism are important driving forces behind people's decisions about transportation.

Most people do not want less freedom: less range, longer recharge-times, more planned obsolescence. They find driving their own vehicles less tiring than supervising them. Thus, self-driving, all-electric vehicles are simply not attractive enough. Most of us will prefer the old freedoms we used to have. Look for older cars, preferably from the years before 1989. Do not jump on new bandwagons...
prev ««« 2024-02-15 »»» next

1. "The News"
the news
Stop checking the news. Learn languages. Travel. Make friends. Get a life.
"Journalism" is based on the French word "jour", which means "day". Guess what: you do not need to be informed about happenings in the world daily. Also, you certainly do not need to consume "news" prepared for you by well-known interest groups whose agenda is to brainwash you to follow their world-view and align your interests with theirs.

Have you ever wondered how it is possible that in this beautiful big world with 8+ billion inhabitants, every single day exactly 5 minutes worth "newsworthy stories" occur, and magically, none of them are positive? Have you ever doubted that the world is really so bad that only negative things happen, and these negative things always happen in countries which are independent and/or do now want to subordinate their interests to your own? Hmm, is it a coincidence? Think harder... and while doing so stop checking the news regularly, start learning languages and traveling the world, meet and befriend people you meet. It is a better recipe to have a meaningful life than listening to all the war-, scare-, fear- and hate-mongering news media on a daily basis.

Even in peace-times news media is bad, but in war-times you should absolutely stay away from "the news", as it is always lying, always brainwashing, and more importantly: always war-mongering. As a general rule do not hate, and do not let news media make you hate other people.
prev ««« 2024-02-14 »»» home

E-mail? 001 (at-sign) 368999 (dot) xyz!

I will try to keep them synced with the content on these sites:

https://368999.xyz
https://debonair.com
https://suave.yachts
https://unceas.ing

Cheers! :)

Forums are still the best way to discuss anything that really matters... Feel free to start a new topic, or discuss existing ones.

List all important information in your post, so that people can search it. Thus, from where, to where, date and time, available seats, and fee per seat. If you have any other criteria, list them, too. Don't forget any contact information either, although users can contact you here on the forum directly, too.

Thanks, be nice!

Dub