Favorites March 2nd 2022

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen

BREAKING: The European Parliament votes to give Ukraine candidate status in the European Union.

This is just a very initial step, but things are moving along

Vera Bergengruen @VeraMBergen

I can’t wrap my mind around the existence of this clip.

Very relevant to the above.

Shashank Joshi @shashj

A DoD source tells me: "I can say with certainty this is happening."

Shashank Joshi @shashj

“in some cases, Russian troops have deliberately punched holes in their vehicles’ gas tanks, presumably to avoid combat, the official said. The Pentagon official declined to say how the military made these assessments” https://t.co/eIdOFOBxGP

This is good but there will need to be a lot more of it to stop the Russian military

Jeremy Cliffe @JeremyCliffe

NEW: EU officials are considering offering asylum and refugee status for soldiers who want to desert the Russian army, as long as they have not committed war crimes. As always, @Mij_Europe has the latest from the EU's corridors of power:

Anything we can do to speed things along. Ukraine is also treating captured Russians pretty well right now.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

… if the media and political discourse shift from “here’s some cheap ways to punish very bad behavior by Russia” to “we stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom” then you create a dynamic where there’s an expectation we’ll actually do enough that they can win.

It's a bummer, but analysts agree that the Russians will probably "win" eventually. Sanctions make it more expensive, not impossible. He goes on to say that American politicians should make it clear what our goals are, so that the public isn't disappointed.

Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦 @Noahpinion

Ah. So they did know about the invasion, they just expected it to be more successful.

The Spectator Index @spectatorindex

BREAKING: The New York Times reports that Chinese officials asked Russia to delay invasion of Ukraine until the Winter Olympics were finished

Makes it seem less likely that China will stop supporting Russia on this.

Ezra Klein @ezraklein

Manchin is floating a deal where you raise revenue with taxes and prescription drug reform, split the money between climate and debt reduction, and shelve the social spending. It's not the bill I'd write. But if he means it, it's far better than failure.

politico.comDems agonize over Manchin’s wish list: Taxes, prescription drugs, climate cash“And the social issues, we basically have to deal with those” afterward, the West Virginia centrist said in a post-State of the Union interview.

I'm cautiously optimistic on something coming out of this.

Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦 @Noahpinion

Amazing thread explaining Russian logistical difficulties, and perhaps the entire course of the war, by looking at tires! 🔥🔥🔥

Trent Telenko @TrentTelenko

This is a thread that will explain the implied poor Russian Army truck maintenance practices based on this photo of a Pantsir-S1 wheeled gun-missile system's right rear pair of tires below & the operational implications during the Ukrainian mud season.🧵 1/ https://t.co/LmxW43v6gy

Reading this I learned more than I ever expected to about tires, also, someone else pointed out that the tires depicted here are probably chinese knock-offs of the tires that they 'should' be using.

2017, although I’ve lost the location info