Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/29
Part 1 of 2
Alex Craiu lives and works in Ukraine as a war correspondent. He studied in the United Kingdom and California, United States, with a degree in documentary and cinematography production. He works as a freelancer and independent journalist. In 2017, he completed an internship with the BBC in London and later started creating videos for social networks, collaborating with various publications. He travelled to most regions of Ukraine, except those fully occupied, and presented online the current situation in Ukraine, including in conflict zones. Currently based in Kyiv, Ukraine, he analyzes and documents people’s lives during the war.
Kyiv-based war correspondent Alex Craiu details a harsher six months: surging Shahed drone swarms and intensified missile strikes, including upgraded Russian ballistic systems that reduce Patriot interception rates. Germany, coordinating with the United States and NATO, is rushing additional Patriot batteries to Ukraine. On the front, Russia seized Kamianske in Zaporizhzhia; heavy fighting persists around Siversk and the Pokrovsk sector. Civilians strongly oppose any territorial concessions or a frozen front. An August 10 airstrike in Zaporizhzhia injured at least twelve. The Alaska summit produced no ceasefire, while USAID oversight cuts raise corruption fears. Europe strengthens support as prisoner exchanges continue.
Interview conducted August 16, 2025.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are joined once again by Mr. Alex Craiu. Since our last update, several months ago, several important developments have occurred—including the Alaska summit between President Trump and President Putin.
For today’s discussion, our sources will include Reuters, the Associated Press, the United Nations, and Amnesty International, with the possibility of citing Human Rights Watch if relevant. With that, over the past six months, what would you say have been the most significant developments from a central Kyiv perspective?
Alex Craiu: Kyiv’s air defences remain under critical strain. There has been a stark surge in Russian Shahed-type drone attacks on the capital. Additionally, missile strikes have intensified. According to recent U.S. Defence Intelligence reports, upgraded Russian ballistic missiles with maneuverable trajectories and decoys have significantly reduced the effectiveness of Ukraine’s Patriot air defence systems—Ukraine intercepted only one of seven missiles on June 28, and seven of thirteen on July 9.
Germany has agreed to supply two additional Patriot batteries to Ukraine, under a deal with the U.S.—Berlin will receive upgraded systems first. At the same time, its current stock will be sent to Ukraine within days, with full components arriving in two to three months. That, along with NATO’s supreme allied commander efforts to fast-track more Patriot deliveries, indicates progress.
On the front lines, Russian forces captured the village of Kamianske in southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast in July 2025. Meanwhile, intensified combat continues in Donetsk: Ukrainian troops have managed to halt a major two-pronged Russian incursion near towns like Dobropillia—delivering a blow to the offensive. Russian forces also pressed into northeastern Donetsk, advancing in areas like Bilohorivka, Hryhorivka, and the Siversk axis, while Ukraine repelled assaults near Siversk as recently as late July.
Around Pokrovsk, the situation remains acute. The offensive there continues, with Russian forces expanding a salient from the southeast and east. Despite intense fighting, Ukrainian defenders regained ground in areas like Kotlyne and Pischane earlier in 2025—but the front remains highly contested.
For civilians, the toll has been devastating. On August 10, 2025, Russian airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region injured at least twelve people, targeting residential areas, a bus station, and a clinic. In frontline communities, especially Zaporizhzhia, residents strongly oppose any proposals for territorial concessions or “freezing the front lines,” fearing permanent Russian control and widespread human rights abuses.
Diplomatically, the Alaska summit concluded without a ceasefire deal. Putin proposed freezing military advances in certain areas in exchange for Ukraine ceding Donetsk and Luhansk—an option Ukraine rejects. President Zelenskyy has ruled out giving up land that could serve as a launchpad for future aggression. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy is set to meet with President Trump in Washington amid growing diplomatic momentum and European leaders offering strong support for Ukrainian security.
Moreover, this, in my opinion, is missing from Donald Trump’s current stance. So, yes, it does not surprise me that he wants Europe to provide Ukraine with as much support as possible, without relying on the United States. From a business standpoint, that may make sense. However, it should be pointed out to Donald Trump that not everything comes down to business—there are geopolitical and security factors that must also be considered.
Jacobsen: Now, the most significant event recently has been the Alaska summit. Trump said—wait a second, yes. President Trump stated that Ukraine should make a deal. The reasoning, in his words, was because “Russia is a big power, and they are not.” Speaking of Ukraine, Putin reportedly demanded more Ukrainian land during the summit. The Russian leader offered to freeze most of the front lines if Kyiv ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that has long been one of Moscow’s primary targets. That report was cited as part of the discussion from Trump himself. Any thoughts on this offer, this deal, and the Alaska summit altogether?
Craiu: I have the feeling—shared by many here—that there were not high expectations for the Alaska summit anyway, at least not in Ukraine. I have conducted several interviews and vox pops with people on the streets, and to start with, they did not expect much. Primarily because Ukraine was not invited to the summit, they felt unrepresented. It was essentially a conversation between two leaders of countries that do not own Ukraine and cannot legitimately negotiate over Ukrainian territory.
In terms of ceding territory to Russia, I specifically asked people in Kyiv about that, including the prospect of so-called “land swaps.” It is important to note that if any such deal were made, it would not involve Ukraine gaining Russian land—it would involve Russia withdrawing troops from already occupied Ukrainian territory in exchange for Ukraine ceding other areas still under its control.
The general sentiment is that Russia does not intend to stop with Donetsk. Its broader goals include taking complete control over Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Kherson Oblast. If the current lines were frozen in Kherson, geographically, it would be more feasible than in Zaporizhzhia. However, in Zaporizhzhia, both logistically and geographically, it is very unclear where a dividing line could even be drawn between Russian-held and Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Jacobsen: In other terms, if a checkpoint or border point were established, would there be a demilitarized area? Moreover, if so, how many people would have to be relocated? How many would lose their homes? What would happen to those who, rightfully, would refuse to leave their houses?
Craiu: From a civilian standpoint, freezing the current lines presents a deeply problematic situation. To implement such a scenario, there would have to be significant movement on the Russian side to establish what they would call a “border” between Ukraine and the territory they claim as Russia. Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject this.
The reasons are straightforward. Beyond legitimizing the aggressor, many people displaced from the easternmost regions of Ukraine still have relatives in near-frontline cities or Russian-occupied areas. What unites them is the hope that Ukraine will push Russian forces back. To leave those territories under Russian control would feel like an act of abandonment. Ukrainians do not want to live under Russian rule, and any such concession would be viewed as a betrayal. This is why Ukrainians firmly oppose ceding land to Russia, even though this remains the only scenario Russia sees as a basis for what it calls “peace.”
Jacobsen: Understood. Shifting to another topic—USAID cuts have been in the news, raising concerns about increased risks of waste and fraud, as watchdog agencies have warned. These cuts reportedly include the termination of third-party monitoring contracts. What are your thoughts on this development?
Craiu: I am not an expert in this area, but I can offer a perspective. Such cuts do carry serious consequences. They come at a time when Ukraine continues to struggle with the chronic issue of corruption. Independent watchdogs and monitoring institutions have been essential in tracking corruption and building public trust.
The fear now is that without these oversight mechanisms, progress made in countering corruption could be undermined. For example, we have already seen controversial legislative proposals that threatened the independence of key anti-corruption bodies, such as NABU. The absence of external monitoring only heightens concerns that these institutions could weaken further, which would be a major setback both for governance and for continued international support.
So yes, anything that disrupts Ukraine’s progress toward reducing corruption ultimately harms the country. That includes situations where watchdogs are not monitoring developments to ensure things are done correctly. Ukraine has a history of corruption, so oversight is essential to keep reforms on track.
Jacobsen: Ukraine has just brought back 84 prisoners of war, including dozens of civilians, in the last few days. At least one of them had been held for more than a decade. What are your thoughts on this?
Craiu: I know exactly what you are referring to. I did not read the specific case of that particular individual. However, Russia has a well-documented tendency to fabricate accusations and charges against people it deems dangerous to its interests. These can include civilians, activists, or journalists.
In this case, the person had likely been detained long ago, perhaps in eastern Ukraine, and then falsely accused. Russia has routinely forced detainees to confess to crimes they did not commit in order to justify their imprisonment. Officially, these are presented as prisons. Unofficially, there is strong evidence that many are detention camps where torture and blackmail are common, with confessions extracted to benefit Russia.
Holding large numbers of civilians and soldiers allows Russia to use them in exchanges, increasing its leverage. It also acts as a deterrent and a means of eliminating individuals who might oppose Russian interests.
When prisoner exchanges occur, they bring both relief and sorrow. Relief, because we see people return—often physically weakened and visibly deteriorated from captivity. However, also sorrow, because many families do not know if their loved ones are included. At exchanges, relatives gather in hopes of hearing news. The joy of those who are reunited is mixed with the anguish of those who are still waiting. What remains in between is hope—the hope that more prisoners will one day follow in the footsteps of those returning across the border to their homeland.
Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Germany and its allies providing major military aid packages to Ukraine through the new NATO supply line?
Craiu: Yes. This is part of a broader effort not only to support Ukraine militarily but also to signal diplomatic unity and consistency from Europe. With the United States showing uncertainty in its long-term support, European allies are making it clear that they will continue supplying Ukraine with the defensive systems and equipment it needs to survive and resist Russian advances.
It is important to note that Europe, as a collective, has a massive interest in Ukraine’s ability to weaken Russia’s military capabilities. There are serious threats to European security. For example, I recently visited the Baltic states, including two important hotspots. One is the Suwałki Corridor, the narrow strip of land between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, bordering Poland. This corridor is often referred to as NATO’s “Achilles heel”—a vulnerable point that could be targeted in the event of conflict.
Another example is the city of Narva in eastern Estonia, which borders Russia’s Ivangorod. Over the past months and years of this war, Narva has become a symbolic face-off point between NATO and Russia. On the Estonian side, you see Ukrainian, European, and Estonian flags displayed proudly. On the Russian side, propaganda is projected on big screens and amplified with loudspeakers, targeting the large Russian-speaking population in Narva—over 90 percent of the city’s residents, many with Russian heritage. This creates an ideological confrontation as much as a geographical one.
So, Europe has many vulnerabilities. It is in Europe’s collective interest to deter Russia and to send a clear message of consistent support for Ukraine, even if the current American administration withdraws or reduces its support. The consistency we see from Germany and other European leaders reflects this understanding: siding with Ukraine in an unpredictable environment created by shifting U.S. policy.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/28
Kamini Wood is an entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and certified parent coach, and founder/CEO of Live Joy Your Way. She helps high achievers overcome imposter syndrome, anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and trauma using her AuthenticMe™ method. Currently pursuing a master’s in Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, she is also board-certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. A survivor of a narcissistic, abusive relationship, Kamini equips clients to recognize toxic traits, set boundaries, and heal. Her bestselling book, Om: Life’s Gentle Reminders, offers inspirational reflections. She regularly speaks on navigating parent–adult child transitions with empathy, respect, and healthy, non-punitive strategies.
Parent–adult child relationships often shift as children assert independence and parents struggle to adapt. Strain may arise when parents continue to see their adult children through childhood roles, leading to frustration, resentment, or emotional distance. Healthy boundaries foster respect, autonomy, and trust, while unresolved family dynamics can unconsciously repeat old wounds. Repairing strained bonds requires curiosity, active listening, and mutual accountability, while parents must manage guilt or resentment if children limit contact by practicing self-compassion and reflection. Healing emerges when both sides accept autonomy, respect individuality, communicate openly, and view growth as an opportunity rather than a loss.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are reasons a once-loving parent-child bond becomes strained?
Kamini Woods: A relationship between parent and child can become strained when there’s resistance to acknowledging change, especially when parents struggle to adapt as their children grow into independent adults. Young adults often want autonomy and a sense of agency. When parents continue to view their adult children through an old lens, expecting and wanting them to play the roles they had in childhood, it leads to frustration and potential resentment. Misunderstandings also arise from a lack of clear communication, unclear boundaries, or differing core values, which can lead to resentment.
Jacobsen: How do changing roles and expectations between parents and adult children contribute to emotional distance?
Woods: As children transition into adulthood, their roles shift from dependence to interdependence. Emerging adults naturally are in the process of establishing their identities, defining their independent expectations around career, relationships, values, and lifestyle choices. Parents may feel rejected if these shifts diverge from their own beliefs or expectations, which can also contribute to a sense of distance. Recognizing and accepting this transition as an opportunity for growth rather than a threat is key to maintaining closeness.
Jacobsen: What is the role of healthy boundaries in maintaining positive parent-adult child relationships?
Woods: Healthy boundaries are essential in creating mutual respect, emotional safety, and understanding. Clear boundaries empower young adults to assert their own voice and decision-making process without guilt or obligation, building trust and also reducing conflict. They clarify what is ok and what is not, who is responsible for what, expectations, and communication guidelines, all of which ensure both parents and adult children feel valued and respected. Boundaries aren’t about creating separation; they are about nurturing closeness through mutual respect for individuality and autonomy.
Jacobsen: How do unresolved family dynamics influence these relationship challenges?
Woods: Unresolved dynamics, like unaddressed emotional wounds, trauma, or communication patterns, continue to replay in parent-adult child relationships. The hidden and unspoken narratives help shape reactions, behaviors, and expectations. This happens most often subconsciously but does have an effect. Young adults who strive for autonomy might encounter difficulty if parents unconsciously project their fears, insecurities, or unresolved experiences onto them. Acknowledging and addressing these dynamics compassionately can create a pathway for healing and to stop the patterns from continuing to repeat.
Jacobsen: How can parents and adult children repair a strained bond in a non-punitive, compassionate way?
Woods: Repair begins by approaching the relationship with curiosity rather than judgment. Both parents and adult children benefit from reflecting on their role in the dynamic and also practicing radical self-responsibility. Compassionate conversations, active listening, and acknowledging each other’s perspectives form a foundation for rebuilding trust. Taking small steps toward understanding, expressing appreciation, and admitting to mistakes enables a chance for repair and growth together.
Jacobsen: How can parents manage feelings of guilt or resentment if a child limits contact?
Woods: Parents experiencing limited contact often wrestle with painful emotions like guilt, confusion, or resentment. Self-compassion is vital here, recognizing that setting boundaries as a child is an act of personal growth, not a rejection. Also, taking the opportunity to self-reflect and see how you, as the parent, have been showing up. Is there room for repair? Is there something you may need to adjust or shift? This is an opportunity for parents to engage in reflective practices to understand their feelings and motivations. In addition, understanding the reasons behind the child’s need for distance, seeking professional support, and reframing the experience as an invitation for personal growth can transform resentment into understanding.
Jacobsen: What communication practices foster understanding and reduce defensiveness?
Woods: Clear, empathetic, and intentional communication practices build and create mutual understanding. Active listening without interruption, validating feelings without needing to fix or solve, and using “I” statements instead of “you” statements all significantly reduce defensiveness. Setting intentions to understand rather than persuade, taking responsibility for one’s emotions, and demonstrating genuine curiosity about each other’s experiences build bridges of empathy, compassion, and clarity. Marshall Rosenberg’s non-violent communication is a great tool.
Jacobsen: What shows a parent-adult child relationship is moving to healing and mutual respect?
Woods: A shift toward healing and respect shows when both the parent and the child begin to genuinely acknowledge and accept each other’s autonomy, differences, and individuality. It is also apparent that when each party can truly accept self-responsibility and is willing to make necessary repairs with the other when needed. Communication becomes less reactive and more reflective. Conversations move from blame and defensiveness toward curiosity, understanding, and honoring each other’s perspectives. Boundaries become normalized and mutually respected. Most importantly, there’s a renewed willingness to appreciate the person each has become, celebrating growth as a positive rather than a loss.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/28
Sam Fankuchen is the CEO and Founder of Golden. A visionary entrepreneur and strategic leader based in Los Angeles, California. With over a decade of experience in social impact, technology innovation, and venture growth, he is best known for his work founding and scaling mission-driven ventures. Sam has contributed thought leadership through articles like Effective Entrepreneurship Demystified and How to Be the Next Uber, providing actionable insights for startups aiming to secure Series B funding and beyond.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What inspired the creation of Golden?
Sam Fankuchen: Golden was born out of a deeply personal moment. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I believed, for 36 hours, that I had lost my family, only to learn they had taken a standby flight and hadn’t informed anyone. That experience left me searching for a way to connect, to contribute, to make sense of things. But every attempt to volunteer, whether through schools, faith communities or online directories, fell short. The opportunities often lacked transparency, relevance or accessibility, and nothing seemed to match the urgency I felt or made it easy to help in a meaningful way. It showed me how disconnected the volunteering process was from how people actually want to, the natural desire many people have to understand the world around them better, and discover where each of us fits into improving the quality of life for others. Golden was born out of that gap, with the idea that volunteering should feel natural, immediate and relevant to your life. It should be something people are drawn to, not out of guilt or obligation, but because it feels like the right extension of who they are.
Jacobsen: Did your background influence its development?
Fankuchen: Extensively. I was the first person to major in social entrepreneurship as an undergrad at Stanford, back when it wasn’t even an official program yet. I launched my first social enterprise as a sophomore and later wrote my master’s thesis on volunteer engagement, specifically how to recruit, retain and optimize the lifetime value of volunteers. My time at Stanford shaped my thinking around user-centered design, which gave me the tools to study how service programs work—or don’t—and I applied those principles in evaluating over 1,000 volunteer programs across the country. That combination of academic research and on-the-ground learning deeply informed Golden’s development. The platform is built around what actually works in the real world and to make service feel like something you want to continue doing.
Jacobsen: How do you address the digital divide for students in under-resourced schools?
Fankuchen: By removing every unnecessary barrier. A student shouldn’t need the newest device or fastest internet to participate in their own growth. We designed Golden to be intuitive, flexible and accessible on any device. More importantly, we recognize that not all learning happens in the classroom. Volunteering is education; it’s learning through action, reflection and responsibility. Golden makes it easier for students to explore interests, develop skills and build confidence in ways that extend beyond grades or test scores. AI is making education more personalized and dynamic, and we believe service should evolve with that too.
Jacobsen: What are concrete examples showing impacts on student access to college-preparatory volunteer opportunities?
Fankuchen: Service has always had a place in college preparation, whether through formal requirements or personal development. But it’s most valuable when students engage with it as a way to better understand themselves and the world around them, not just to meet a milestone.
We believe service is a form of learning that sits alongside academics. It helps students build empathy, curiosity and a sense of agency. That kind of growth tends to show up in college applications, yes, but more importantly, it shapes how students show up once they’re on campus. For example, Loyola High School in Los Angeles has its students dedicate the month of January entirely to service. Golden can help students and administrators facilitate and validate those experiences, giving students space to focus on the experience itself, while also helping schools and families trust that the work is meaningful and measurable. For example, we do this across the K-12 system statewide in partnership with the government of Utah.
Jacobsen: How does Golden ensure the authenticity and verify service hours across volunteer organizations?
Fankuchen: Golden’s platform is built to make participation real, seamless, verifiable and trusted. We use mobile and on-site validation tools such as geolocation, organizer check-ins and custom telematics to confirm attendance and activity. Organizers can also add optional layers of verification, including background checks and ID scanning. This gives schools, nonprofits and other institutions confidence that reported service hours are not only accurate and compliant, but also personalized and meaningful.
Jacobsen: What role do educators play in integrating Golden into student support systems?
Fankuchen: Educators are central to making service experiences transformative. Using Golden, they can integrate service directly into curricula, acting as facilitators, mentors and advocates. Many teachers use Golden to set learning intentions before students serve, helping them contextualize their efforts and reflect on the experience afterward. Educators also help students turn those experiences into actionable lessons through journaling, classroom discussions or group projects, which allows service to reinforce academic and social development. Golden’s tools also make it easier to scale those efforts, track outcomes and celebrate successes across each school’s community.
Jacobsen: How do you ensure protection of student data privacy and ethical use of the technology?
Fankuchen: We build trust by being transparent. Golden is fully compliant with COPPA, CCPA and other privacy standards, and we prioritize data protection at every level. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and students maintain full ownership and control over how their data is used. We are transparent about what we collect and what benefits the user gets in sharing specific types of information. Beyond legal compliance, we hold ourselves to a higher ethical standard, ensuring our technology supports students without exploiting their information or behaviors.
Jacobsen: What are trends in how Gen Z students engage with community service?
Fankuchen: Gen Z approaches service differently than previous generations. They want their time to matter, and they want to witness the impact. Golden meets those needs by offering clear, tangible opportunities where change is visible and immediate. While Millennials often respond to compelling mission statements and clearly related programs that deliver measurable results, Gen Z gravitates toward bite-sized experiences with concurrent gratification. They are also more likely to explore service through digital-first platforms and want to connect their efforts to larger global conversations, whether that’s climate, mental health or any subject of particular interest to them. Golden’s beautifully designed apps and personalized content recommendation technology are well suited to this generation’s values, helping them serve with intention while discovering more about themselves and their communities.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Sam.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/27
Allison Briggs is a Licensed Professional Counselor and founder of Being Real, PLLC, where she specializes in trauma recovery, emotional resilience, and relational healing. With expertise in developmental trauma, codependency, grief, and caregiver burnout, she helps clients rebuild self-trust, set healthy boundaries, and reconnect with authenticity. Certified in EMDR and trained in Brainspotting, Allison integrates evidence-based therapy with lived experience to support meaningful change. She is a thought leader on trauma-informed practices, women’s empowerment, and family dynamics, offering commentary on issues like caregiving, relational trust, and safety initiatives. Her work emphasizes authenticity, empowerment, and compassionate healing.
In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Briggs shares trauma-informed insights on early dating, authenticity, and emotional safety. She explains how first impressions often stem from survival strategies like fawning, and highlights the importance of noticing when one is performing versus showing up authentically. Briggs identifies common trauma responses on first dates, such as people-pleasing or hyper-vigilance, and offers guidance on when to pursue a second date—choosing curiosity and safety over box-checking. She outlines healthy versus unreasonable boundaries, emphasizes connection over performance, and names overlooked green flags like self-trust, accountability, and respect. Her approach centers authenticity and relational healing.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How can someone balance wanting to make a good first impression with staying authentic?
Allison Briggs: When we’re trauma-informed, we understand that “impressing” often stems from survival strategies—like fawning or shapeshifting to be liked. The goal isn’t to shut that down, but to notice when you’re performing versus showing up from your truth. A good first impression doesn’t mean being perfect—it means being present and grounded in who you really are.
Jacobsen: From a trauma-informed lens, what are some common emotional patterns on a first date?
Briggs: People with relational trauma may over-function and go into people pleasing instead of staying connected to themselves or suppress their needs to avoid rejection. Others may feel numb, disconnected, or hyper-vigilant—constantly scanning for red flags. These are nervous system responses, not flaws.
Jacobsen: When should folks choose a second date, and not?
Briggs: Go on a second date when you feel safe enough to be real, not just flattered or intrigued. Don’t go just because the person checked boxes—go if you felt at ease in your body, emotionally met, or curious in a grounded way. If you felt like you had to perform, explain your needs away, or justify red flags—pause there.
Jacobsen: What signs show the environment feels emotionally safe for authentic connection?
Briggs: You feel like you can exhale. You’re not scanning for danger or filtering your personality to avoid being misunderstood. There’s space for silence, curiosity without pressure, and mutual respect for each other’s pacing and stories.
Jacobsen: What are reasonable boundaries in early dating?
Briggs: Reasonable boundaries include taking things slowly, checking in with your own nervous system, being clear about your availability, and asking for clarity instead of guessing. You’re allowed to say no to emotional labor, ambiguity, or intensity that feels unearned.
Jacobsen: What are unreasonable boundaries?
Briggs: Boundaries become unreasonable when they’re used to control the other person or avoid vulnerability entirely—like demanding access to someone’s phone on date three or insisting on rigid rules that block emotional intimacy. They should protect your well-being, not punish or preemptively shut others out.
Jacobsen: What strategies shift the focus from impressing to building a genuine connection?
Briggs: Before the date, ask yourself: “What part of me wants to be seen here?” Practice co-regulation—being with yourself while being with them. Notice how your body feels in their presence. If you’re focused on connection, not performance, you’ll start listening more than you’re rehearsing.
Jacobsen: What are overlooked “green flags” of healthy relational dynamics early in dating—e.g., radical acts of self-trust?
Briggs: When someone says “I need to think about that” instead of giving a quick answer—that’s a green flag. When they pause to check in with themselves, respect your boundaries without pouting, or name their own limits without guilt—that’s emotional maturity. The biggest green flag? You feel like yourself when you’re with them.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Allison.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/26
Sofie Roos is a licensed sexologist and relationship therapist with over 18 years of experience. Based in Stockholm, she specializes in sexual health, intimacy, and couples therapy. She works at Venhälsan and writes for Passionerad, offering expert guidance on sex, relationships, STDs, and sex toys to diverse audiences. In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, she discusses why instant attraction is overrated, the psychological traits that make people more appealing, and how authenticity fuels chemistry. Roos explains the value of emotional connection, embracing imperfections, and balancing mystery with honesty. She also highlights common dating app mistakes and shares practical tips for improving real-life and online dating success. Roos writes for Sweden’s Passionerad: https://passionerad.se/.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What one piece of dating advice is completely wrong?
Sofie Roos: That you need to immediately feel attracted to your date, and that if not being so after the first date, then there’s no need to meet again.
While the old “Do you believe in love at first sight?” does happen, that’s a rarity, because most happy long-term romantic relationships grow over time, and have a starting curve that’s quite slow, which for example is why two co-workers or friends suddenly can start dating each other; because romantic feelings easily grow if first knowing the person.
So, just because you don’t feel “This is the love of my life” the second you meet someone for a date, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to fall in love – so give people more chances than just one or two encounters – that can many times lead to happy long-term relationships!
Jacobsen: What are the big psychological factors making someone more attractive?
Roos: The three biggest ones are intelligence, humor and signaling that you’re secure in yourself, such as by talking calmly, being able to look someone in the eye, stand for who you are, what you believe in and being able to shot that with respect.
So being able to have deep, entertaining and interesting conversations, but also to laugh your pants off, all while doing it in a way that feels like the “real” you, meaning it comes in an authentic way, will make you way more attractive.
“If you can make them laugh, then you can kiss them!”.
Jacobsen: What trick can be used to create authentic chemistry?
Roos: To create an authentic feeling, you must be authentic, this by being in the moment and truly seeing your date, but also by opening up yourself.
This can be done by asking questions, and be brave and go for the bit more personal, deep or edgy ones and not only keep it to “What you’re working with?” kind of Q’s.
To truly listen, and not only hear your date, will also create more authenticity, something you can do by looking them in the eyes while they’re talking, nodding your head, or smile when they tell something funny to confirm that you hear them, as well as by asking good follow-ups.
Generally, the more curious you are, and the more you open up, the more you’ll get back – this as long as you create an atmosphere where it feels safe to talk deeply. However, this has to be done with fingertip feel, and you don’t want to push the conversation so your date becomes uncomfortable.
Also, throwing in some sense of humor with a few fun stories or jokes in between the serious talk creates a more dynamic conversation, which also is great if wanting it to become more authentic!
And, as you already know: try to be yourself, because if not, you’re creating an atmosphere which per se isn’t authentic, since you’re not even true with who you are.
Jacobsen: Why do small imperfections make someone more likable and attractive?
Roos: Because it shows that a person is human and real, which makes someone come off as more genuine and authentic, since we know that no one is perfect!
If you never show any imperfections, it’s very easy to get sceptical and think that this “must be too good to be true” – so don’t be afraid to show your small shortcomings even early on while dating – that will just make you more likable!
Jacobsen: How important is emotional connection before physical intimacy?
Roos: For most people, it’s key to be able to be intimate in a way that feels comfortable, but also truly enjoyable.
There’s a big difference in getting intimate with someone you know, and someone you don’t know, with the first being a much deeper experience where you truly can relax and open up in a whole different way.
Therefore, focusing on the emotional bond before thinking about “making the move” physically, should be your prioritization, because if you can make your date feel emotionally safe with you, and that you have an emotional bond, they will want to be close to you physically as well, and that part will happen almost by itself in a way that feels very natural and not forced at all!
Jacobsen: How do you balance being a little mysterious with staying authentic?
Roos: To stay mysterious, you should try to get your date to have questions about you, something that can be done by for example not telling all the spicy details you come into.
To have intense but quite short meetings is also a great way to become more mysterious. Make sure that you have an honest date with great talk, intense emotions between you and with a flirty feeling, but keep it quite short – make your date want to know more about you when you leave!
This can for example be done by not letting them know all about you directly. Keep things for later!
So, to become a bit more mysterious, it’s actually mostly about not showing everything right away, but to make your date have some questions about who you are. So integrity goes along well with creating mystery!
However, to be authentic at the same time, you must be yourself and make your date feel that you’re not playing any character or game here, but that you’re truly honest with who you are, that you’re open with your intentions and that you’re curious about the other person – so it’s a thin line being authentic and mysterious at the same time, especially if the mysteriousness doesn’t come so naturally to you, because you don’t want to “play it” since that doesn’t come off as authentic!
If you feel like this, you come a long way by just saving a little of yourself for later, and by not being so pushy, and instead have a “relaxed” feeling to it all!
Jacobsen: What are common mistakes people make on dating apps?
Roos: The number one mistake is not having an opener that’s interesting enough.
There’s so many people on dating apps that draw our attention, especially for women, so writing something plain as a “Hey” or “Wyd?”, will most times not do it, and once you shoot your shot and don’t manage to get their attention, then your chance is often gone.
So, try to be a bit original in your openings, and ideally write something that makes them interested in keep hearing more of whatever you first wrote – whether or not it’s a joke, a story or a compliment (such as “You know what’s most beautiful with you?”).
Secondly, so many people tend to not give a great picture of who you are – both when it comes to your looks, for example by just using selfies, but also when it comes to not adding in a bit of personal information, no matter if it’s your music taste, hobbies, what you’re working with or a silly joke you find funny.
Another common mistake is to be too sexually orientated – especially if actually looking for something serious, both with your pictures and your bio (the things you write) in your dating profile, but also when it comes to the conversations.
Even though the culture is quite sexual on many dating apps, it’s hard to pull that off, especially in the beginning of a conversation.
So, if you want to meet people for more serious dating purposes, try to be a bit more longterm, and don’t think you “must” be sexual just because that’s how many people do it online.
And last but not least – do not put too much energy into getting to “know” someone online. If you are interested in someone, instead try to schedule a physical date in some public place quite quickly.
It’s only first when you meet up in real life you can get a feeling for if you are vibing or not, and many times, spending so much energy, time and thought on someone based on only texting, then later turns out to just be a big disappointment when finally meeting up.
Jacobsen: If you could give one underrated psychological trick to improve someone’s dating life, what it it?
Roos: Think to yourself what you’re worth and good enough of this person before starting to flirt with them, something that will create a more mysterious, charming and attractive approach, especially when dating in real life.
If you truly believe you are worthy of this person, you won’t become too needy or desperate, but instead be able to keep your integrity and awaken an interest in the other person, since they won’t feel as if they’re having the “upper hand”.
One could say confidence, but not in a douchey way – rather in a romantic, sexy, mysterious, charming and flirty way, where the one you’re hitting on can’t decide weather or not you think they’re the loveliest person you’ve ever met, or if you just as well could walk out the door and never think of them again.
So when shooting your shot – do it properly, and show your intentions in a way that feels like they don’t want to miss this opportunity!
Bottom line – if you truly think you’re worth dating someone, they will start thinking that it’s worth giving you a chance too!
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Sofie.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/25
Michael Sapienza is the CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, leading national efforts to prevent colorectal cancer, support patients, and accelerate research. Under his leadership, the Alliance has launched groundbreaking initiatives to address the rising threat of colorectal cancer in younger adults. In this interview, Sapienza discusses alarming trends showing colorectal cancer as the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women under 50 and the leading cause in men under 50. He details Project Cure CRC, a $100 million research initiative, and LEAD FROM BEHIND, a celebrity-driven awareness campaign. Sapienza also explains how budget cuts are impacting clinical trials and how individuals can help fund lifesaving work.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Why are colorectal cancer rates rising in people under 50?
Michael Sapienza: Incidence is rising at alarming rates in young adults. Colorectal cancer is now the #1 cause of cancer-related deaths among men under 50 and #2 among women under 50. Experts predict it will be the deadliest cancer among 20–49-year-olds by 2030. The reason for the increase is not clear. Despite being one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, colorectal cancer is less-know and less-funded than other less-deadly cancers.
Jacobsen: What is Project Cure CRC?
Sapienza: In a critical step forward in the mission to end colorectal cancer, the Alliance launched Project Cure CRC to:
- Fund $100 million in expedited, novel colorectal cancer research, and
- Improve patient outcomes through its dynamic patient navigation and clinical trial portal, BlueHQ.org.
It is the largest philanthropic funding effort in colorectal cancer history. To date, hundreds of letters of intent have been submitted to Project Cure CRC, of which 27 have been awarded grants totaling $12 million in funding from the Alliance.
Jacobsen: How does LEAD FROM BEHIND prevent colorectal cancer?
Sapienza: The Colorectal Cancer Alliance launched LEAD FROM BEHIND, a celebrity-driven initiative to raise awareness for colon cancer as The Preventable Cancer and to break the stigma surrounding the disease. LEAD FROM BEHIND educates about and encourages screening to prevent the disease. Screening helps prevent colon cancer by removing precancerous polyps.
Jacobsen: What is the goal of End Colon Cancer Coast to Coast?
Sapienza: End Colon Cancer Coast to Coast is a volunteer-driven national initiative to raise support for the Alliance’s efforts to end the disease. The goal is to create a movement of fundraising and awareness events from coast to coast to support our mission. We encourage people to visit colorectalcancer.org/DIY to learn about the different ways start a fundraiser.
Jacobsen: How have budget cuts affected clinical trials and studies?
Sapienza: Due to the budget cuts, our partners have placed freezes on salaries, personnel and equipment. In some cases, clinical trials have been stopped, putting patient lives at risk. Any disruption to research pauses progress, stalls breakthroughs and jeopardizes real patients waiting for advances in treatment. As the leading nonprofit dedicated to ending colorectal cancer, the Alliance will be tripling down on our efforts to fund as much cutting-edge, high-risk, high-reward research as possible through Project Cure CRC.
Jacobsen: How will Amanda Peterson and Lauren Spero’s roles improve fundraising?
Sapienza: Amanda and Lauren bring strong backgrounds and experience in fundraising and volunteer engagement. Amanda will be responsible for growing Alliance fundraising efforts, while Lauren will strengthen volunteer time and talent to maximize fundraising.
Jacobsen: How do marketing and finance work together to support the Alliance’s growth?
Sapienza: Marketing and Finance play integral roles in supporting the Alliance’s growth. The departments work together to achieve a balance of strategic financial planning and innovative creative initiatives that amplify the Alliance’s reach and impact.
Jacobsen: What can individual and institutional donors do?
Sapienza: The easiest way to support the Alliance is to donate at colorectalcancer.org or start a fundraiser at colorectalcancer.org/DIY. The Alliance invites the public, corporations, foundations, and philanthropic individuals to join our mission by contributing to Project Cure CRC at colorectalcancer.org/cure.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Michael.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/25
*Previous articles in the series, and others, at the bottom.*
–
“Biologic Institute is a non-profit research organization founded in 2005 for the purpose of developing a new approach to biology. Thanks to technological advances, the life sciences have become very effective at acquiring facts. What they need now is a theoretical foundation that makes sense of these facts. Some still claim that Darwin’s theory does just that, but the ongoing struggle to make sense of genomic data (for example) indicates otherwise.
Scientists affiliated with Biologic Institute are working from the idea that life appears to have been designed because it really was designed. That’s a hypothesis, not a theory, and while it obviously has huge philosophical implications (made even more huge by the the [sic] fact it appears to be correct) it doesn’t do much for biology if left at that.”
“The Intelligent Design creationists have also put up a simulacrum, the Biologic Institute, with fume hoods and white lab coats, from which they hope to summon scientific credibility. They’ve also been fooled into thinking the appearance is the same as the substance.
Since literal Cargo Cultists aren’t a significant presence in the US, but creationists are, I suggest we appropriate this holiday and call it Intelligent Design Day. Don’t worry about going to any effort to celebrate it, though—all you have to do is pretend that you are celebrating it, just as the Intelligent Design creationists pretend that they’re doing science.”
P.Z. Myers (2007)
“Big Intelligent Design may be following the path blazed by Big Tobacco.”
Reason Magazine (2007)
After the fall of The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (Jacobsen, 2025) and its journal Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design (PCID), around 2005, another institution emerged out of the Discovery Institute (DI) community for Intelligent Design (ID) Creationism research, the Biologic Institute (2025a)–a U.S. 501(c)(3).
Douglas Axe was the founding scientific lead of Biologic Institute in 2005 (Biologic Institute, 2025a; Discovery Institute, 2025). Established in 2005 and largely funded through grants associated with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture; DI materials and BI’s own pages document close organizational ties (2025). Their leadership was comprised of 17 affiliates as of last listing: Douglas Axe, Günter Bechly, Stuart Burgess, Brendan Dixon, Winston Ewert, Ann Gauger, Guillermo Gonzalez, David Keller, Matti Leisola, Philip Lu, Robert J. Marks II, Brian Miller, Colin Reeves, Mariclair Reeves, Richard Sternberg, Jonathan Wells, and Lisanne Winslow (Biologic Institute, 2025b).
The established ideological grounding was ID Creationism (Cartwright, 2006). They wanted to challenge mainstream evolutionary biology primarily with appointments (Biever, 2006). The aim was to demonstrate a design perspective as producing better science than mainstream evolutionary biology while part of a larger ID Creationism covert religious culture war movement (Forrest, 2007). This was part of the “Wedge” strategy in the promotion of ID in education, public policy, and science (National Center for Science Education, 2008).
Primarily, it was active from the founding in 2005 to about the latest date of 2019 with occasional publishing into 2025, e.g., a single article in 2025 so far; therefore, a functional research space devoted to this research seems unlikely to be supportable (Young, 2021; BIO-Complexity, 2025a; The Sensuous Curmudgeon, 2021). Reporting in 2006 (New Scientist; summarized by NCSE) raised questions about BI’s lab operations and access.
Axe and colleagues published “Stylus: A System for Evolutionary Experimentation Based on a Protein/Proteome Model with Non-Arbitrary Functional Constraints” (2008) in PLOS ONE, beginning some research.
Biologic Institute launched the ID Creationism journal BIO-Complexity in 2010 (National Center for Science Education, 2010). Since 2010, BIO-Complexity has published dozens of papers across 16 annual volumes (2010–2025); publication cadence is modest compared to PCID (BIO-Complexity, 2025a). The Editor-in-Chief was Robert J. Marks II, and the founding editor was Douglas Axe (BIO-Complexity, 2025b).
The rest of the editorial board were William Basener, Günter Bechly, Michael Behe, Walter Bradley, Stuart Burgess, Russell Carlson, William Dembski, Marcos Eberlin, Winston Ewert, Charles Garner, Ann Gauger, Ola Hössjer, Peter Imming, James Keener, David Keller, Matti Leisola, Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, Jed Macosko, Tobias Mattei, Scott Minnich, Edward Peltzer, Colin Reeves, Ralph Seelke, Richard Sternberg, Scott Turner, Jiří Vácha, John Walton, and Jonathan Wells (Ibid.).
They aimed to test the scientific merit of ID Creationism (BIO-Complexity, 2025c). An IRS Form 990-EZ for the 2019 tax year (filed 2020) reflects modest finances (IRS, 2020). Their contact refers to the Center for Science and Culture (Biologic Institute, 2025c). In 2012, BI used a stock laboratory image in promotional material; coverage and DI commentary acknowledged the use of stock footage (Johnston, 2012; Hoppe, 2012; Klinghoffer, 2012).
Most of the funding for the Biologic Institute has been from DI (Biologic Institute, 2025a). The size of the financial contributions via ITS filings, the slow pace of publication, and the niche subject matter suggest that the research operation appears, at best, as a boutique operation that ceased physical operations many years ago. This follows the trends of ISCID, PCID, and numerous leading intellectuals of the ID movement from DI.
There is still more to review for this A Further Inquiry series.
References
Axe, D.A., Dixon, B.W., & Lu, P. (2008, June 4). Stylus: A System for Evolutionary Experimentation Based on a Protein/Proteome Model with Non-Arbitrary Functional Constraints. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002246.
Bailey, R. (2006, December 19). Biologic Institute = Tobacco Institute. https://reason.com/2006/12/19/biologic-institute-tobacco-ins/.
Biever, C. (2006, December 13). Intelligent design: The God Lab. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225824-000-intelligent-design-the-god-lab/.
Biologic Institute. (2025a). About. https://www.biologicinstitute.org/about.
Biologic Institute. (2025c). Contact. https://www.biologicinstitute.org/contact.
Biologic Institute. (2025b). People. https://www.biologicinstitute.org/people.
BIO-Complexity. (2025a). Archives. https://bio-complexity.org/ojs/index.php/main/issue/archive.
BIO-Complexity. (2025c). Editorial Policies. https://bio-complexity.org/ojs/index.php/main/about/editorialpolicies.
BIO-Complexity. (2025b). Editorial Team. https://bio-complexity.org/ojs/index.php/main/about/editorialTeam.
Cartwright, R.A. (2006, December 14). New Scientist Investigates Biologic Institute. https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/12/new-scientist-i.html.
Center for Science & Culture. (2025). About: Our Mission. https://www.discovery.org/id/about/.
Discovery Institute. (2025). Douglas Axe. https://www.discovery.org/p/axe/.
Forrest, B. (2007, July). Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals. https://web.archive.org/web/20110519124655/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/attachments/intelligent-design.pdf.
Hoppe, R.B. (2012, December 18). The Disco ‘Tute’s fake laboratory. https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2012/12/the-disco-tutes-1.html.
IRS. (2020). BIOLOGIC INSTITUTE: Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/841670187_201909_990EZ_2020110417413291.pdf.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2025, August 22). The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism. https://afurtherinquiry.substack.com/p/the-international-society-for-complexity.
Johnston, C. (2012, December 18). Intelligent design think tank’s “institute” is a Shutterstock image. https://arstechnica.com/science/2012/12/inteliigent-design-think-tanks-institute-is-a-shutterstock-image/.
National Center for Science Education. (2006, December 15). New Scientist visits the “God Lab”. https://ncse.ngo/new-scientist-visits-god-lab.
National Center for Science Education. (2010, November-December). The Latest “Intelligent Design” Journal. https://ncse.ngo/latest-intelligent-design-journal.
National Center for Science Education. (2008, October 14). The Wedge Document. https://ncse.ngo/wedge-document.
Myers, P.Z. (2007, February 15). Happy Intelligent Design Day!. Pharyngula. https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/02/15/happy-intelligent-design-day/.
The Sensuous Curmudgeon. (2021, May 22). The Cosmic Aardvark Is Smiling. https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/the-cosmic-aardvark-is-smiling/.
Young, M. (2021, May 23). Biologic Institute Closes. https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2021/05/biologic-institute-closes.html.
Other A Further Inquiry Series articles
Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace (2025.08.19)
Architects of Intelligent Design Creationism, Then and Now (2025.08.20)
The Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.21)
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.22)
Biologic Institute, Douglas Axe, and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.24)
Other Previous Articles
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Hearsay (2019.04.06)
Canadians’ and Others’ Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution (2019.10.12)
The Fantastic Capacity for Believing the Incredible (2020.11.01)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.01.28)
Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) (2022.01.29)
Support for evolution stable in Canada (2024.05.26)
Creationism at a new low, according to Gallup (2024.08.01)
How Creationism and Intelligent Design Undermine Canadian Science Education: The Trinity Western University Case (2025.04.01)
Other Previous Interviews
Dr. Barbara Forrest: Philosophy Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University & Member, NCSE Board of Directors (2013.11.01)
Dr. Kenneth Raymond Miller: Professor of Biology, Brown University (Part One) (2014.07.01)
Dr. Kenneth Raymond Miller: Professor of Biology, Brown University (Part Two) (2014.07.08)
Dr. Michael Behe: Professor, Biochemistry, Lehigh University (Part One) (2014.07.15)
Dr. Michael Behe: Professor, Biochemistry, Lehigh University (Part Two) (2014.07.22)
An Interview with Imam Soharwardy on Creationism, Evolution, and Islam (2019.01.01)
Interview with Ann Reid – Executive Director, National Center for Science Education (2022.05.03)
Glenn Branch on the Scopes Trial in Books (2024.11.07)
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/24
Part 2 of 2
Eddie Thomas, a researcher specializing in Sudan and South Sudan, discusses the transition from subsistence farming to market economies, the impact of conflict, and healthcare inequalities. In this 2-part interview, he examines how wars have disrupted traditional kinship networks, pushing people into market dependency. South Sudan’s caloric intake has dropped, leading to malnutrition. Sudan’s healthcare disparities stem from colonial-era spatial inequalities and privatization. Border conflicts like Kafia-Kingi influence economic dynamics, and kinship networks are under pressure. Thomas advocates for universal healthcare and decommodification as solutions to economic instability and conflict. He acknowledges Sudanese revolutionaries striving for systemic change.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the key drivers behind Sudan’s healthcare inequalities? Are these comparable to those of other countries, or are their causes and characteristics unique?
Eddie Thomas: Sudan’s inequalities are well known and have multiple dimensions. One of the most significant factors is spatial inequality. Some regions benefit from Sudan’s merchant and trade systems, where the wealthier populations reside and have access to services. Then, some regions generate wealth for these merchant systems—through agriculture, gold mining, oil extraction, and food production—yet remain significantly disadvantaged.
Most of this wealth-generating activity occurs far from the centers of trade. Historically, Sudan’s economic hub has been around Khartoum. At the same time, peripheral areas have suffered from lower life expectancy, higher child mortality rates, and other indicators of material disadvantage. These disparities were entrenched during the 19th century due to colonial aggression and the arbitrary drawing of colonial borders, which heavily favoured the central regions.
The healthcare system that emerged under these conditions had serious shortcomings. There was a strong bias toward providing better healthcare in wealthier regions, with greater access to medical personnel and facilities. In contrast, poorer regions suffered from stark disparities in mortality rates, particularly infant and child mortality.
Furthermore, Sudan’s healthcare system has historically been skewed towards curative rather than preventative care. Those living in the capital could access expensive medical procedures. At the same time, those in remote areas often lacked access to vaccines or basic preventative medicine. This structural imbalance has persisted, reinforcing the country’s deep-seated healthcare access and outcomes inequalities.
After the end of the colonial period, there was a global movement toward primary healthcare, aiming to expand medical services to poor and marginalized communities. The goal was to provide the best possible healthcare for all, leading to the development of some health facilities in underserved peripheral regions. There was also an effort to improve healthcare access for economically disadvantaged populations. Sudan had significant social inequalities, with rich and poor people living side by side in cities. This movement gained momentum in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, by the 1980s, a global financial crisis caused a significant shift in the financial landscape. One of the outcomes was a severe debt crisis across Africa. Many governments have been encouraged to take out loans to build productive infrastructure and social welfare services, including healthcare. Right-wing economic policies advocating for privatization gained prominence when the debt crisis struck. These policies argued that people should not expect free healthcare, leading to declining public health services.
During this period, Sudan initially experienced some growth in healthcare access, and free services were available in many places. When I first visited Sudan, one could walk into a healthcare facility and receive basic treatment, such as a bandage, without charge. However, this changed drastically in the 1990s when a new military government took over. Adopting hyper-privatization and austerity measures, they systematically cut back public health services.
A weak, developing healthcare system came under immense strain. Additionally, the government initiated conflicts in many regions where they imposed austerity, as such policies often required coercion and repression. This further eroded the health system. By the early 21st century, Sudan’s healthcare had become highly privatized and heavily concentrated in Khartoum, which retained the majority of medical personnel.
Most Sudanese doctors sought better opportunities abroad, particularly in Saudi Arabia or the UK. Those who remained in Sudan preferred working in private hospitals in major cities, where they could earn a livable wage, rather than in underfunded public hospitals in rural areas, where salaries ranged between $50 and $200 per month—insufficient for someone who had endured the rigorous training required for a medical career.
As a result, Sudan developed a highly centralized healthcare system focused on Khartoum, making access to medical services in other regions extremely difficult. When Khartoum fell in April 2023, this unequal system was effectively decapitated. Most specialist hospitals, clustered around the presidential palace where intense fighting occurred, were forced to shut down, leaving only a few operational facilities.
Healthcare provision then shifted into two main spheres. On one hand, private actors relocated their services outside of Khartoum. On the other hand, grassroots emergency response groups emerged during the 2018–2019 revolution and stepped in to provide urgent medical care. These mutual aid organizations had pioneered self-help models, running emergency rooms nationwide. However, they were ill-equipped to handle the massive healthcare crisis. Their resources were scarce, medical buildings were destroyed, and doctors were arrested and tortured.
Despite their efforts, these groups faced overwhelming challenges and became key targets of government repression during this turbulent period.
Jacobsen: How have cross-border conflicts and territorial disputes, such as the Kafia-Kingi enclave, shaped some of the political-economic dynamics of the region?
Thomas: I worked on Kafia-Kingi a few years ago but am unaware of recent developments except through friends and other contacts. However, Sudan and South Sudan have a relatively unique set of border conflicts because they are both recent and unresolved. Border disputes exist across Africa—there is a contested triangle on the Egypt-Sudan border and another between South Sudan and Kenya, where different interpretations exist regarding ownership.
Often, the more powerful state maintains control over disputed enclaves. This has been the case along much of the Sudan-South Sudan border, where Sudan, with its larger population, military, and financial resources, has retained its presence in key border areas.
Not all border disputes are resolved through war. Most are long-term disputes that gradually get negotiated. Sudan has maintained control over Kafia-Kingi, a mineral-rich enclave South of Darfur, which, by legal standards, should have been ceded to South Sudan in 2011. The rules established that areas administered by southern provinces in 1936 would remain part of South Sudan. However, Kafia-Kingi was the largest land area transferred from South Sudanese to North Sudanese provincial administration, an early post-independence decision.
There were several reasons for this transfer. Kafia-Kingi was sparsely populated, making it a difficult area to govern. Additionally, its mineral wealth made it highly valuable, prompting authorities in Khartoum to exercise greater control over the region.
When South Sudan gained independence, border enclaves became one of the many unresolved issues negotiators had to address. Other complex matters included national debt allocation, ownership of embassies such as the one in Nairobi, and South Sudanese citizens’ status in Sudan. These were sensitive topics requiring significant compromise.
As a result, negotiations on border enclaves were indefinitely postponed, and it is likely to take a long time before any resolution is reached.
Kafia-Kingi is particularly significant because it borders the Central African Republic and Chad. Despite being a remote and sparsely populated area, it has become a hotbed of activity due to arms trafficking, gold smuggling, and the presence of various outlaw groups.
It is now a highly contested zone, as one of the major gold mines fueling the war in Sudan is located within the enclave. The ongoing conflict between the Rapid Support Forces, the military, and their respective allies is partly driven by control over these gold resources.
Unfortunately, this beautiful and remote forested region has been brutally drawn into the turmoil of modern geopolitics, with its resources becoming central to an increasingly violent conflict.
Jacobsen: What are the major challenges foreign-funded healthcare initiatives face in Sudan? Supply chains, delivery, application, things of this nature.
Thomas: Foreign funding does not constitute a significant portion of Sudan’s healthcare economy. The most recent national health accounts, published about six years ago, estimated that foreign funding accounted for approximately 5% of the country’s total healthcare costs. Much of this funding came from global philanthro-capitalist organizations, such as the Gates Foundation and Gavi, which focused on vertical programs.
Vertical programs allocate funds for specific interventions—such as vaccines or malaria nets—rather than supporting comprehensive healthcare systems. While these programs can lead to progress on urgent public health challenges, they are limited in scope. Effective healthcare requires addressing multiple needs simultaneously, and vertical programs do not always integrate well with broader health initiatives. For example, malaria nets alone are insufficient in communities facing malnutrition, infectious diseases, and epidemic outbreaks.
Most foreign-funded healthcare in Sudan was channelled through the Ministry of Health, which managed the distribution of funds and resources. However, with the government’s collapse, these funds’ status remains uncertain. Efforts have been made to transition toward UN funding mechanisms. However, coordination with the Ministry of Health is still necessary at some level, as it maintains connections across the country.
The volume of foreign aid has likely contracted, given the logistical challenges of transferring funds, purchasing medical supplies, and distributing goods within Sudan. Though I do not have precise figures, I suspect foreign funding has not increased. An increasingly significant element of foreign-funded healthcare is diaspora remittances, which support emergency rooms providing critical care across Sudan.
Jacobsen: What about kinship networks in Sudan and South Sudan’s economies? Are these scaled in a way that helps at least some of the population and mitigates healthcare gaps?
Thomas: Kinship networks exist everywhere, don’t they? Powerful figures like Mr. Trump have kinship networks even in the United States. They are an integral part of social organization.
Economic and social life was historically structured around kinship-based production systems in many places. However, not all social orders were strictly kinship-based. Production was sometimes organized around alternative social networks, such as age groups. These networks were not necessarily based on family ties but on individuals coming of age together in a specific place—a pattern seen in many societies worldwide.
You see these types of networks everywhere—think of school reunions. People still attend them as useful networking events. For example, Harvard alums often connect with fellow graduates to secure job opportunities.
These networks have always existed, but previously, labour was not mobilized through markets. Instead, it was organized through reciprocal obligations that weren’t formally tracked or bartered. Let’s say, Scott, that you invite me for dinner tomorrow, then again the following week, and a couple of weeks later, a third time. I wouldn’t write you a check saying I owe you a dinner, but after the third invitation, I would likely feel an implicit obligation to return the favour. You, too, might expect that I reciprocate in some way.
That is a better way of understanding how these economies function than the concept of barter, which is largely an invention of right-wing economists who misunderstand social reciprocity. If you’ve invited me multiple times, I should contribute something. If you are significantly wealthier than me, I may not invite you back to my home out of embarrassment. Still, I will find another way to reciprocate—perhaps by helping you in some other manner.
These networks, however, are under immense pressure as people increasingly need money. Many are forced to relocate, live in refugee camps, or seek safety in displacement camps. In such environments, individuals must sell their labour and endure harsh conditions. The freedom to choose is greatly diminished, and they must adhere to external demands rather than act according to their social obligations.
Jacobsen: To move into a more constructive discussion, what policy recommendations could mitigate economic commodification and conflict in Sudan’s healthcare system or South Sudan?
Thomas: If you want a policy recommendation, why not aim for a global free healthcare system modelled after Canada or Cuba? If discussing real solutions, why not advocate for a universal healthcare system?
People are under tremendous pressure to access healthcare and education, enduring significant hardships to obtain these basic needs. Nearly everyone would prefer free healthcare and education. Suppose wealthy countries do not want people migrating across their borders. Why not invest in comprehensive social services in their home countries? By fully decommodifying healthcare and education, you incentivize people to remain in their communities rather than seek opportunities elsewhere.
That is a genuine policy recommendation. There are other policy approaches, but I often see them as non-solutions. For example, some propose micro-enterprise programs to empower women—yet these initiatives often result in marginal economic gains, with individuals earning just a few dollars a month. These approaches fail to address the root causes of economic disparity and healthcare inequity.
Those are the policy prescriptions of the aid industry, but they have been tried before.
Jacobsen: Do you have any comments on Omer Al-Bashir’s impact on healthcare access or medical services, particularly in rural areas?
Thomas: He was an arch-neoliberal, managing healthcare in rural areas accordingly.
Jacobsen: Who do you think is leading, organizationally or individually, a positive collective movement toward a better future for Sudan? Who is working towards reducing human rights abuses, improving healthcare, and ensuring people’s needs are met?
Thomas: Sudan has undergone a revolution. Brilliant revolutionaries have eloquently articulated Sudan’s crisis and proposed practical solutions. They have devised models of decommodified healthcare in a highly commodified healthcare environment. These individuals and movements are leading the way, and people should pay attention to what they have to say.
Jacobsen: Excellent. Eddie, I have no more questions. Thank you very much for your time today. It was nice to meet you.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/23
Part 1 of 2
Eddie Thomas, a researcher specializing in Sudan and South Sudan, discusses the transition from subsistence farming to market economies, the impact of conflict, and healthcare inequalities. In this 2-part interview, he examines how wars have disrupted traditional kinship networks, pushing people into market dependency. South Sudan’s caloric intake has dropped, leading to malnutrition. Sudan’s healthcare disparities stem from colonial-era spatial inequalities and privatization. Border conflicts like Kafia-Kingi influence economic dynamics, and kinship networks are under pressure. Thomas advocates for universal healthcare and decommodification as solutions to economic instability and conflict. He acknowledges Sudanese revolutionaries striving for systemic change.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are here with Eddie Thomas. He is a researcher specializing in Sudan and South Sudan. He has previously been affiliated with the Rift Valley Institute and XCEPT. Currently, he works with the ATAR Network. He has two decades of experience as a teacher, human rights worker, and researcher. He examines border conflicts, healthcare inequalities, and economic transformation. He has authored South Sudan: A Slow Liberation and reports such as Moving Towards Markets and The Future of Sudan’s Shattered Health System. His research, previously supported by the XCEPT program and the Rift Valley Institute, explored the consequences of market dependence, conflict-driven social shifts, and healthcare privatization in Sudan’s shifting and evolving political landscape.
Thank you for joining me today. My first question is: How has the transition from subsistence farming to market dependence in South Sudan affected local economies and social structures?
Eddie Thomas: Subsistence is a term many people still use to describe agriculture in South Sudan. It is a peculiar term that arose during the Enlightenment and was the opposite of a new concept: improved agriculture, capitalist agriculture, agriculture for profit and high yield. Subsistence was used to describe forms of agriculture that were not oriented toward maximizing yield but rather toward managing consumption.
The subsistence systems in South Sudan were long-lived. They have only started to decline over the past 20 or 30 years. Even now, they are not defunct but are deteriorating. Before this shift, people primarily produced food for consumption or exchange within their social networks. They organized production around social relationships rather than markets.
This meant that people did not necessarily seek to maximize surplus or yield but considered other factors now recognized as equally important—such as sustainability, climate and ecological adaptation, and flavour and nutrition. These factors influenced agricultural production decisions.
However, South Sudan has experienced near-continuous conflict since the 19th century, particularly during the Turco-Egyptian rule and later under British colonial administration. It has had only brief periods of peace. War is a significant reorganizer of society and production. It is also an effective means of instilling a profit motive in people, as it introduces intense coercion to reshape society.
That is what happened in South Sudan. Wars gradually detached people from the land where they produced food, grew grain, kept livestock, or fished in rivers. These conflicts transformed them into something different. Initially, they might have become enslaved persons or military recruits—who were not much different from enslaved persons—or what are now referred to as displaced people, those forced off their land and compelled to live in unsuitable and uncomfortable conditions.
And all of these factors limited the ability of kinship networks and other social structures to survive and organize production. At the same time, people’s ability to manage their production was being undermined.
Other factors were coming into play. New groups of people were not interested in market commodities a hundred years ago. People didn’t seek to save money to buy available goods. Basic commodities such as soap or fishhooks were available but not central to people’s lives. However, the allure of commodities has grown significantly. Now, people desire handbags, stylish shoes, fashionable clothing, and smartphones.
People are increasingly drawn into market economies and commodities while facing new threats to their ability to remain on the land. Climate change has severely affected South Sudan, which is ecologically sensitive. The levels of flooding along major rivers and waterways are alarming. Some individuals are forced to reconsider their home locations due to the risk of flooding. Others must reconsider their livelihoods, as they can no longer sustain farming or herding. As a result, many are switching to fishing as a means of survival, adapting to the climate-induced displacement they are experiencing.
What has happened is that an older system—one not designed for maximizing profit or yield but rather focused on maintaining social and kinship networks—has been disrupted. This traditional system provided multiple layers of meaning to life through production. Work was once deeply tied to one’s sense of family, home, and even cultural traditions, such as the songs people sang while working.
I’m not trying to sentimentalize the past or suggest it was the only way of life. There were negative aspects to the “good old days.” However, the kinship-based and socially networked production systems helped hold society together. Today, many pressures on South Sudanese people are forcing them apart, breaking down social cohesion, and pushing them into fragmented, often antagonistic, enclaves.
One of the things I examined was how conflict is as much tied to these ongoing agrarian changes as it is to ethnicity or other cultural explanations sometimes given for violence. The countryside is undergoing a massive transformation, and this upheaval has become entangled with the conflict, potentially fueling its continuation.
Let me explain why. The first scientific nutrition studies in South Sudan were conducted in the 1950s by Gertrude Culwick, an English researcher employed by the colonial government. She conducted multiple studies in different parts of Sudan. Her work in the floodplains—vast, flat, muddy lands on the east and west of the Jebel, where the White Nile flows through South Sudan on its way north—revealed interesting findings. She found that people consumed between 2,000 and 3,500 calories per day, a substantial intake. However, the measures she used then differed from the ones we use today.
Because today, caloric intake would be averaged out, considering age differences and other factors. Gertrude Culwick may have used specific measurement criteria. However, adults in her studies still consumed a substantial amount of food.
Some studies suggest that people in South Sudan consume an average of 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day in the 21st century. This marks a dramatic reduction in caloric intake over the past 60 to 70 years. One key aspect of this transition is that it is a hungry transition. It may eventually lead to obesity, as market-based food systems have in many other countries, but at present, it is leading to undernourishment and malnutrition.
There is no direct link between marketization and better food systems. On the contrary, marketization—alongside war, displacement, and other disruptions—is not resulting in better nutrition. Instead, it is driving an increased demand for cash. In the past, many South Sudanese lived with minimal reliance on money, and it wasn’t easy during the colonial period to get people to work for wages because they simply did not need cash. Additionally, they did not wear clothes with pockets, making it impractical to carry money.
The colonial administration introduced money taxes to compel people to work for wages. As a result, people would perform a few days of labour annually to pay their taxes. Over time, market dependence increased, and people needed money not just for taxes but also for new necessities such as modern education and healthcare, both of which required cash. Additionally, they began to need money for food as they transitioned from solely producing food to selling portions and later repurchasing food from merchants once their stocks ran low. Essentially, their food supplies were becoming commodities.
I found an interesting trend in household surveys—though they are infrequent in South Sudan and must be interpreted cautiously. Surveys conducted during the peace years from 2006 to 2013 suggested that while many areas shifted toward market-based economies, many people reported that they had not used cash in the past seven days. This indicates a growing reliance on cash without consistent access to it.
In the areas where hunger was most prevalent, people needed money to buy food but often did not have it. These were the same areas where militia groups were gaining strength, and young men increasingly turned to alternative forms of work that provided access to cash or coercive means of obtaining resources they could no longer produce themselves. The militia system played a crucial role in dismantling traditional production methods and was instrumental in sustaining this economic transition. As workers defected from productive labour to military employment, money circulated more through soldiers than through conventional economic activity.
As hunger intensified, the need for money grew, pushing people into new methods of obtaining it, including selling labour and sending their sons to fight. This transformation perpetuated economic instability and reinforced the cycle of displacement and market dependence.
People also invested heavily in educating their children because they believed education was essential for navigating the emerging economy. Even families with very little money would sell their labour to afford school fees, hoping that education, even in under-resourced schools, could provide their children with a better future.
South Sudan’s progression toward a market economy is an important study area because it sheds light on how the rural crisis underpins many ongoing challenges. This rural crisis is sometimes misrepresented as a conflict between antagonistic ethnic groups, as that provides a simplistic explanation. However, the reality is more complex. The government, unable to adequately serve its people, often exacerbates divisions by taking resources away in a discriminatory manner rather than providing for its citizens. This creates friction among communities and pushes individuals into armed groups.
Focusing less on the military and more on the agricultural sector would help me better understand South Sudan’s challenges.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/23
*Previous articles in the series at the bottom.*
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“The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) herewith announces its formation and official launch. ISCID is a cross-disciplinary professional society that investigates complex systems apart from external programmatic constraints like materialism, naturalism, or reductionism. The society is fully web-driven and can be reached via the Internet at http://www.iscid.org.
The society provides a forum for formulating, testing, and disseminating research on complex systems through critique, peer review, and publication. Its aim is to pursue the theoretical development, empirical application, and philosophical implications of information- and design-theoretic concepts for complex systems.”
International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design
“Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design (PCID) is a quarterly, cross-disciplinary, online journal that investigates complex systems apart from external programmatic constraints like materialism, naturalism, or reductionism. PCID focuses especially on the theoretical development, empirical application, and philosophical implications of information- and design-theoretic concepts for complex systems. PCID welcomes survey articles, research articles, technical communications, tutorials, commentaries, book and software reviews, educational overviews, and controversial theories. The aim of PCID is to advance the science of complexity by assessing the degree to which teleology is relevant (or irrelevant) to the origin, development, and operation of complex systems.”
Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design
“So in summary, what do we have? Firstly, neither Wells, Behe, Dembski nor Nelson appear to be currently publishing original research in mainstream scientific journals. Secondly, the research cited by ID supporters is not produced by ID supporters, and these authors do not see their research as supportive of the Discovery Institute’s anti-evolutionary program. Lastly, PCID’s review system is unorthodox and has not yielded any substantive advances in scientific inquiry being largely philosophical discussions, anti-establishment rhetorical diatribes or rehersals [sic] of jaded arguments from probability.”
Intelligent Design (ID) Creationism came to a head through The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID). For an Indian-based publication which I wrote almost 300 articles for it, News Intervention, a decent article on the generic presentation of ISCID and more in-depth analysis of the publication record of PCID or the journal entitled Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design (PCID) is “Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID)” (Jacobsen, 2022).
The core conclusions from the analysis were that ID is rebranded Creationism, sharing the same theological roots in divine intervention and Christian hermeneutics, as evidenced by statements from its founders (Ibid.). Both Creationism and ID failed to garner legitimacy in academia, courts, culture, and science (Ibid.).
ID’s architects openly tie the “Designer” to the Christian God and recast it in information-theory rhetoric (Ibid.). The Discovery Institute serves as the hub, with its leaders aging or dying without successors. Dembski left in 2016 but resurfaced around 2020 part-time and then more fully since 2021 (Science & Culture Today, 2021; Dembski, 2016), and the movement persists ideologically despite intellectual isolation (Jacobsen, 2022).
ISCID’s journal PCID served as the publishing pipeline, characterized by lax/conflicted review, limited output (~70 pieces), and a teleological focus (Ibid.). PCID’s activity faded after the 2005 Dover defeat (Ibid.).
The ID community is largely Euro-American Protestant men with advanced credentials, reflecting a sociopolitical project (Ibid.) and furthering the commentary in the prior pieces in this special series for A Further Inquiry and an archival piece for future curious audiences about the culture wars (not scientific, peer-reviewed intellectual combats) too (Ibid.).
Therefore, ID/ISCID/PCID failed because the enterprise is theological in substance and lacks evidential, rigorous science. A more pointed analysis of PCID is available at “What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design?” (Jacobsen, 2022b).
By its analysis at the time, PCID was the most professional effort of the ID movement through ISCID to produce actual scholarly output (Ibid.). PCID reflects ISCID wholeheartedly as a teleological emphasis while borrowing the terminology of information theory (Ibid.).
Governance and review were compromised as ISCID Fellows doubled as PCID’s advisory/peer-review body (Ibid.). Publication could proceed with a single Fellow approval while under a concentrated editorial control, showcasing conflicts of interest and a weak formalization of rigour (Ibid.).
The total output was eight electronic issues from 2002-2005 with small or low-impact research outcomes (Ibid.). This is despite an extensive organization network, making PCID its flagship publication (Ibid.). As a research program attempt, PCID is a crucial archival representation of the failure of the ID research program (Ibid.).
As noted, there were 57 ISCID Fellows from a variety of academic disciplines and backgrounds. Let us do a coverage of them, as enough time has passed to see a then and now comparison and contrast. This will be an A to Z alphabetical listing by last name. This will be tedious, but necessary as an archival work and sourced from publicly available materials:
The ISCID Fellow is Bernard d’Abrera. Bernard d’Abrera (Australian lepidopterist and author associated with the Natural History Museum, London) died January 13, 2017. Michael Behe is in Biochemistry at Lehigh University. He is still a Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University and a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (CSC).
John Bloom was a Professor of Physics & Philosophy of Science at Biola University. Now, he is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Biola University and the founding director of Biola’s M.A. in Science & Religion.
Walter L. Bradley was in the Mechanical Engineering department at Texas A&M University. Now, he is dead, circa July 2, 2025. Neil Broom was in the department of Biophysics at the University of Auckland. Now, he is Emeritus Professor of Chemical & Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland.
J. Budziszewski was in the Department of Philosophy & Political Theory at the University of Texas–Austin. Now, he is a Professor of Government and Philosophy at UT Austin. John Angus Campbell was a Professor of Communications at the University of Memphis. Now, he is a Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University of Memphis.
Russell W. Carlson was a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Georgia (Athens). Now, he is on the Faculty or in a Director Emeritus role at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center.
David K. Y. Chiu was in the Department of Biocomputing at the University of Guelph. Now, he is Professor Emeritus in Computer Science at the University of Guelph. Robin Collins was in the Department of Cosmology & Philosophy of Physics at Messiah College. Now, he is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy & Department Chair at Messiah University.
William Lane Craig was in the Department of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola. Now, he is Emeritus Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot and leads Reasonable Faith. Kenneth de Jong was in the Department of Linguistics at Indiana University Bloomington. Now, he is a Professor of Linguistics at Indiana University.
William A. Dembski held various Mathematics roles while focusing as an independent. Now, he is a technology entrepreneur, a Founding/Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute CSC and an active writer. Mark R. Discher was in the Department of Ethics at the University of St. Thomas. Now, he is a Theology/Ethics educator, e.g., Kino Catechetical Institute.
Daniel Dix was in the Department of Mathematics at the University of South Carolina. He was Professor Emeritus at USC. Now, he is dead circa 2023. Fred Field was in the Department of Linguistics at California State University. Now, he is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Northridge.
Guillermo Gonzalez was in the Department of Astronomy at Iowa State University. Now, he is a Research Scientist (Physics & Astronomy) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Bruce L. Gordon was in the Department of Philosophy of Physics at Baylor University. Now, he is Professor of the History & Philosophy of Science at Saint Constantine College (Houston) and has taught at Houston Christian University (formerly HBU).
David Humphreys was in the Department of Chemistry at McMaster University. Now, he is an emeritus or retired academic. Any public updates are limited to legacy profiles. Cornelius Hunter was in the Department of Biophysics at Seagull Technology. Now, he is a Discovery Institute Fellow who has been an engineer/scientist with industry roles. Any public updates are sparse.
Muzaffar Iqbal was in Science & Religion at the Center for Islam and Science. Now, he is the President of the Center for Islamic Sciences (Canada) and is the editor of the Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur’an. Quinn Tyler Jackson was in Language & Software Systems independently. Now, he is a writer/technologist and listed with The Writers’ Union of Canada.
Conrad Johanson was in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences & Physiology at Brown Medical School. Now, he is Professor Emeritus at Brown University. Robert Kaita was in the Department of Plasma Physics at Princeton University. Then he was Researcher/Emeritus-affiliated at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Now, he is retired.
James P. Keener was in the Department of Mathematics & Bioengineering at the University of Utah. Now, he is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Mathematics at the University of Utah. Robert C. Koons was in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas–Austin. Now, he is a Professor of Philosophy at UT Austin. Younghun Kwon was in the Department of Physics at Hanyang University. Now, he is a Professor of Physics at Hanyang University (quantum information/AMO).
Christopher Michael Langan is the founder and President of the Mega Foundation (1999). He published his 56-page CTMU paper, “The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory” (2002) in PCID. Now, he continues research work through the Mega Foundation, as a self-described “reality theorist.” Robert Larmer was in the Department of Philosophy at the University of New Brunswick. Now, he is a Professor & Department Chair in Philosophy at UNB Philosophy and the President of the Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers.
Matti Leisola was in the Department of Bioprocess Engineering at the Helsinki University of Technology. Now, he is a Professor Emeritus at Aalto University (formerly HUT). E. Stan Lennard was in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. Now, he is a retired surgeon/clinical professor. Any updated information is sparse. John Lennox was in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Now, he is an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics & Fellow Emeritus at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.
Gina Lynne LoSasso was qualified in Cognitive Neuroscience & Clinical Neuropsychology and worked with Christopher Michael Langan through the Mega Foundation & its Research Group. Now, she maintains an executive role with the Mega Foundation.
Jed Macosko was in the Department of Chemistry at La Sierra University. Now, he is a Professor of Physics at Wake Forest University and the President/Co-founder of AcademicInfluence.com. Bonnie Mallard was in the Department of Immunology at the University of Guelph. Now, she is a Professor in Pathobiology at the University of Guelph and is the inventor of HIR/Immunity+ livestock health technology.
Forrest M. Mims III was involved in Atmospheric Science research. Now, he continues atmospheric measurements and science writing. Scott Minnich was in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Idaho. Now, he is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Idaho.
Paul Nelson was involved in the Philosophy of Biology at the Discovery Institute. Now, he is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture. Filip Palda was in the Department of Economics at ÉNAP (Montréal). Now, he is dead, circa 2017.
Edward T. Peltzer III was associated with Ocean Chemistry and later affiliated with MBARI. Now, he is retired from MBARI and is a long-time Senior Research Specialist/Program Manager. Alvin Plantinga was in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Now, he is the John A. O’Brien Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame.
Martin Poenie was in the Department of Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology at the University of Texas–Austin. Then he was a Retired/emeritus professor. Now, he is retired. Carlos E. Puente was in the Department of Hydrology & Theoretical Dynamics at the University of California, Davis. Now, he is a Professor Emeritus at UC Davis.
Del Ratzsch was in the Department of Philosophy of Science at Calvin College. Now, he is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Calvin University. Jay Wesley Richards was involved in Philosophical Theology at the Discovery Institute. Now, he is a Senior Fellow/Director for The Heritage Foundation and a Professor at The Catholic University of America.
Terry Rickard was involved in Electrical Engineering at Orincon Corporation. Now, he is a senior technologist/executive, co-founded ORINCON, and has later roles at OptiMark and Lockheed Martin. John Roche was in the Department of History of Science at the University of Oxford. Now, he is dead, circa May 20, 2024 (Harris Manchester College, 2025).
Andrew Ruys was involved in Bioceramic Engineering at the University of Sydney. Now, he is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Sydney. Henry F. Schaefer III was involved in Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia (Athens). Now, he is the Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry & Director of the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia (Athens).
Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., was involved in the Department of Psychiatry/Neuroscience at UCLA. Now, he is a Research Psychiatrist at UCLA and is an author on neuroplasticity/OCD. Philip S. Skell was involved in the Department of Chemistry at Penn State University. Now, he is dead, circa November 21, 2010.
Frederick Skiff was in the Department of Physics at the University of Iowa. Now, he is a professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Iowa. Karl D. Stephan was involved in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Southwest Texas State University. Now, he is a Professor at Texas State University, an engineering-ethics writer.
Richard M. Sternberg was involved in Systematics at NCBI-GenBank (NIH). Now, he is an independent/ID-affiliated scholar with no current formal institutional role publicly listed. Frank J. Tipler was involved in the Department of Mathematical Physics at Tulane University. Now, he is still a Professor of Mathematical Physics at Tulane University.
Jonathan Wells was involved in Developmental Biology at the Discovery Institute. Now, he is dead, September 19, 2024 (Klinghoffer, 2024). Peter Zöller-Greer was involved in Mathematics, Physics, and Information Science at the State University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt/Main). Now, he is Professor/emeritus-level at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, but retired.
Therefore, 7 former ISCID Fellows are deceased: Bernard d’Abrera (Jan 13, 2017), Walter L. Bradley (July 2, 2025), Daniel Dix (July 3, 2023), Filip Palda (Aug 24, 2017), John J. Roche (May 20, 2024), Philip S. Skell (Nov 21, 2010), and Jonathan Wells (Sept 19, 2024).
13 are some form of emeritus: John Bloom, Neil Broom, John Angus Campbell, Russell W. Carlson, William Lane Craig, Fred Field, James P. Keener, Matti Leisola, John Lennox, Carlos E. Puente, Del Ratzsch, Alvin Plantinga, and David Humphreys.
Five are explicitly retired: E. Stan Lennard, Edward T. Peltzer III, Martin Poenie, Peter Zöller-Greer, and Robert Kaita. Therefore, 25 Fellows are deceased, emeritus, or retired (accounting for overlap), leaving 32 with current active roles; categories were active, deceased, emeritus (still publishing/teaching), retired (no ongoing academic appointment), and unknown/insufficient public information.
The transitions never happened after PCID and ISCID became defunct. ID Creationism’s most significant achievement in an attempt at academic legitimation eventuated in this outcome for itself. This legacy has significantly influenced the intellectual lives of numerous individuals. It is one of those rare phenomena: a forever-after reputational scar.
As noted previously, there are other organizations and individuals to cover.
References
Dembski, W.A. (2016, September 23). Official Retirement from Intelligent Design. https://billdembski.com/personal/official-retirement-from-intelligent-design/.
Dembski, W.A. (2025, July 23). Remembering Walter Bradley (1943–2025). https://scienceandculture.com/2025/07/remembering-walter-bradley-1943-2025/.
Harris Manchester College. (2025). Dr John Roche, 1937 – May 20 2024. https://www.hmc.ox.ac.uk/article/dr-john-roche-1937-20-may-2024.
Klinghoffer, D. (2024, September 24). Farewell to Jonathan Wells, Iconoclastic Scientist. https://scienceandculture.com/2024/09/farewell-to-jonathan-wells-iconoclastic-scientist/.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2022a, January 29). Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID). https://in-sightpublishing.com/2022/04/06/excavation-of-a-failure-the-international-society-for-complexity-information-and-design-iscid/.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2022b, January 28). What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design?. https://in-sightpublishing.com/2022/04/06/what-was-the-professional-output-of-intelligent-design/.
Science & Culture Today. (2021, February 16). William Dembski: Why I am Returning to the Front Lines of Intelligent Design. https://scienceandculture.com/2021/02/william-dembski-why-im-returning-to-the-front-lines-of-intelligent-design.
Footnotes
[1] Fellows of ISCID:
- d’Abrera, Bernard
- Behe, Michael J.
- Bloom, John
- Bradley, Walter
- Broom, Neil
- Budziszewski, J.
- Campbell, John Angus
- Carlson, Russell W.
- Chiu, David K. Y.
- Collins, Robin
- Craig, William Lane
- de Jong, Kenneth
- Dembski, William A.
- Discher, Mark R.
- Dix, Daniel
- Field, Fred
- Gonzalez, Guillermo
- Gordon, Bruce L.
- Humphreys, David
- Hunter, Cornelius
- Iqbal, Muzaffar
- Jackson, Quinn Tyler
- Johanson, Conrad
- Kaita, Robert
- Keener, James
- Koons, Robert C.
- Kwon, Younghun
- Langan, Christopher Michael
- Larmer, Robert
- Leisola, Matti
- Lennard, Stan
- Lennox, John
- LoSasso, Gina Lynne
- Macosko, Jed
- Mallard, Bonnie
- Mims, Forrest M. III
- Minnich, Scott
- Nelson, Paul
- Palda, Filip
- Peltzer, Edward T.
- Plantinga, Alvin
- Poenie, Martin
- Puente, Carlos E.
- Ratzsch, Del
- Richards, Jay Wesley
- Rickard, Terry
- Roche, John
- Ruys, Andrew
- Schaefer, Henry F.
- Schwartz, Jeffrey M.
- Skell, Philip
- Skiff, Frederick
- Stephan, Karl D.
- Sternberg, Richard
- Tipler, Frank
- Wells, Jonathan
- Zöller-Greer, Peter
See International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (2013).
Other A Further Inquiry Series articles
Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace (2025.08.19)
Architects of Intelligent Design Creationism, Then and Now (2025.08.20)
The Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.21)
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.22)
Other Previous Articles
22% of Canadians believe God created humans as is ~10,000 years ago (2018.04.30)
Creationism and Evolution — Bill HB258 Denied (2018.05.01)
About One in Five Canadians are Young Earth Creationists (2018.05.01)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Hearsay (2019.04.06)
Canadians’ and Others’ Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution (2019.10.12)
Canada: Division over role of religion in Canadian society (2019.12.17)
The Fantastic Capacity for Believing the Incredible (2020.11.01)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.01.28)
Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) (2022.01.29)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.04.06)
Interview with Ann Reid — Executive Director, National Center for Science Education (2022.05.03)
An Interview with Imam Soharwardy on Creationism, Evolution, and Islam (2023.02.14)
An Interview with Professor Michael Ruse, Florida State University — Part Two (2023.02.16)
Support for evolution stable in Canada (2024.05.26)
@rationalchristianfaith, “Logan Paul Cliffe Knechtle: Does The Bible Support Evolution?” (2024.06.18)
Creationism at a new low, according to Gallup (2024.08.01)
Glenn Branch on the Scopes Trial in Books (2024.11.07)
Nathan H. Lents on Gender Diversity, Evolution, and Science (2025.03.22)
How Creationism and Intelligent Design Undermine Canadian Science Education: The Trinity Western University Case (2025.04.01)
Exploring Creationist Beliefs in Canada: An Analysis of Perspectives on Origins and Evolution (2025.08.15)
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Once upon a time, Alan Sokal wrote a spoof paper in Social Text as a critique of postmodern-infected scholarship. In 2015, the idea of the replication crisis became mainstream, as an Open Science Collaboration Science paper presented non-replication in psychology widely, thus beginning an intensified debate on methods and rigour. That same year, Heterodox Academy was founded.
Heterodox Academy was created by Jonathan Haidt, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, and Chris Martin due to concerns about campus orthodoxy and viewpoint diversity lacking. In August 2016, the University of Chicago Free Speech Letter (August 2016) was published as a pushback against perceived illiberal campus norms. In 2016, Peter Boghossian promoted the Atheos app for skeptical conversation in a civil tone with the Dawkins Foundation. This influenced the eventual liberal, humanist, and debate posture of Areo Magazine.
Areo was founded in November 2016 by Malhar Mali and named after Milton’s Areopagitica. In May 2017, Boghossian & Lindsay placed a satirical paper, “The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct,” (May 19, 2017) in Cogent Social Sciences as part of a larger project or academic paper hoax.
By October 2-5, 2018, James Lindsay, Pluckrose, and Boghossian, worked on a hoax collectively known as “Sokal Squared” or the “Grievance Studies,” revealed in an approximately 2-year research project involving the submission of bogus papers to critical theory or critical theory-associated journals. The Atlantic and Chronicle covered the “Sokal Squared” or the “Grievance Studies” hoax, while Areo provided an explanatory essay.
Dr. Iona Italia launched “Two for Tea” podcast. She would later become the Editor-in-Chief of Areo. “Two for Tea” ran through October/November 2023. On January 23, 2019, Areo Magazine Ltd. was registered in the UK (Company No. 11782240).
In 2020, Italia became the Editor-in-Chief. It was claimed somewhere between May 2020 and October 2023 that Areo garnered about 750,000 readers per year (not externally verified, but externally claimed). On August 25, 2020, Pluckrose and Lindsay published Cynical Theories as, in part, an extension of the thesis about activist scholarship.
Between April 6 and May 3, 2021, more formally, the leadership of Areo changed. Pluckrose stepped back from daily responsibilities. Companies House shows the person with significant control switched formally to Italia rather than merely informally. Aside from Areo happenings, Boghossian resigned from Portland State University between September 8 and 9, 2021, and published a resignation letter to coincide with this.
On January 19, 2022, Pluckrose is no longer a director, according to Companies House, while Italia was listed. In May 2023, Pluckrose’s Counterweight project closed. Supporters were directed to other organizations. Later in 2023, Areo‘s publications ceased, following Italia’s tenure ending in October and the announcement of business operations closure on November 5, 2023.
In late 2023, Quillette began running the ‘best of Areo’ while Quillette purchased the archives of Areo. On January 21, 2025, the company, Areo Magazine Ltd., was formally dissolved (UK Companies House).
Areo rose from 2016 to 2019, peaked, probably, between 2020 and 2022, and experienced its denouement and closure phases from 2023 to 2025. Now, the figureheads Puckrose, Lindsay, Boghossian, Italia, and Mali have moved on.
Pluckrose has a Substack entitled The Overflowings of a Liberal Brain and published The Counterweight Handbook (2024) under Swift Press. Lindsay founded New Discourses as a media-education site. Boghossian is a Faculty Advisor at the University of Austin and hosts a YouTube/podcast series. Italia co-hosts the Quillette podcast and writes independently. Mali appears far less publicly since leaving Areo.
Sokal’s original paper remains a point of academic and public discussion to this day.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Part 2 of 2
Omima Jabal, a Sudanese humanitarian, volunteer in the Emergency Response Room (ERR), a grassroots initiative providing critical aid during the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Initially focused on disaster relief, ERR expanded its work in response to the war, providing food distribution, medical aid, and civilian protection while maintaining neutrality. In this 2-part interview, Jabal explains that USAID funding cuts have severely impacted local civil society organizations, forcing projects to freeze and depriving communities of essential food, medical care, and protection. This shortage intensifies resource scarcity, conflict, and human rights abuses. Despite challenges, grassroots and women-led groups continue coordinating aid and advocating for flexible international funding. Jabal calls for urgent policy changes to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches vulnerable Sudanese communities and supports local initiatives amid instability.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Large clusters of international organizations operate in crisis zones. These organizations can be massive and well-funded, but their size sometimes makes them inefficient for rapid response.
They tend to be comprehensive and bold in their approaches, but are there any initiatives focusing on smaller, more agile groups—such as small cohorts of organizations working together instead of large networks? Would such a model be more responsive to the localized needs of the Sudanese people who are most affected?
Omima Jabal: That’s right. Some smaller mechanisms do exist.
For example, UNICEF has worked in Sudan since the crisis began, focusing on aid, education, and substitution programs.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is also active. However, as I mentioned, one of the biggest challenges is that these large international organizations do not cover all parts of Sudan or engage the community at planning levels.
For instance, in the beginning, UNICEF operated only in the government-controlled zones controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Other areas were inaccessible, and UNICEF had no mechanism to work with them.
Later, UNICEF began collaborating with grassroots groups, which was an effective approach. Working through national organizations alongside grassroots groups demonstrated real impact. However, UNICEF has not yet engaged directly with grassroots groups to develop a tailored intervention strategy using smaller, more localized clusters.
The same is true for WFP. Due to the mandates and policies they follow, they face similar limitations. I previously emphasized that international organizations must improve coordination mechanisms within crisis zones.
They must become more creative and adaptive to the changing realities of Sudan, working in ways that respond flexibly to different regional needs.
Jacobsen: On a personal note, for those who want to know more about you as an individual—where do you find your strength? You are working under extreme circumstances. Some may find comfort in data and analysis; human rights discussions can be theoretical.
Jabal: Where do I find my strength? Strength comes from understanding the situation and its complexities, even within a single area. The situation in Sudan is not uniform—within one state, you will find vastly different conditions.
For example, we have worked in states where control is divided between two conflicting parties—some areas are controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while others are under the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
One key strength of grassroots groups is their accessibility. They have access to areas that even the government or international organizations cannot reach. Another source of strength is their deep understanding of the local context.
We understand why certain interventions fail, and others succeed and how to adapt to each situation. This knowledge is invaluable.
Community accountability is another strength. Grassroots organizations are directly accountable to their communities, which builds trust. This level of accountability is not easily achieved, but it is crucial.
Lastly, grassroots groups have a strong reputation among the people they serve. This trust and credibility within their communities make their work more effective. So, yes, these are some key strengths that sustain us.
One of the major challenges we face is the spread of hate speech. The war on the ground is one thing, but the war on social media is another serious issue. Platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp are being used to spread misinformation and incite violence.
There have been cases where people were killed because of a video circulating online. This is a serious concern. One of our worries is the role of Meta, the company that owns Facebook and WhatsApp.
They have a fact-checking program, but it has many complications. One challenge is language. Hate speech often spreads in Sudanese Arabic dialects or specific tribal and regional languages, which are not always recognized by fact-checkers.
Another issue is transparency—we do not know how many fact-checkers Meta employs to monitor Sudan-related content or how effectively they prevent the spread of harmful speech. A recent U.S. government decision to halt Meta’s fact-checking policies has made things even more difficult.
This has further reduced the ability to control the spread of misinformation and hate speech. The international community has not taken significant action on this issue. No concrete steps have been taken to address the harmful content spreading on social media, and this remains a serious and growing problem we face daily. I want to highlight that as one of the key challenges we are dealing with.
Jacobsen: Thank you. I appreciate your time again.
Jabal: Thank you so much, Scott.
Jacobsen: You’re welcome.
Jabal: It was nice talking to you. Have a good day.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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*Previous articles in the series at the bottom.*
–
“To defeat scientific materialism and its destructive moral, cultural and political legacies… To replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God… To see intelligent design theory as the dominant perspective in science… Discovery Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture seeks nothing less than the overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies.”
“The Wedge Document,” CSC “Wedge” Strategy (1998)
(Documented by National Center for Science Education)
“The mission… is to advance the understanding that human beings and nature are the result of intelligent design… We seek long-term scientific and cultural change through cutting-edge scientific research and scholarship…”
“The mission of Discovery Institute is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity, and innovation… Mind, not matter, is the source and crown of creation, the wellspring of human achievement.”
This isn’t really, and never has been, a debate about science. It’s about religion and philosophy.
“The CSRC expressly announces, in the Wedge Document, a program of Christian apologetics to promote ID.”
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Dist., 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005)
The Discovery Institute (DI) is a policy think-tank based in Seattle, Washington (Discovery Institute, 2025a). DI was founded in 1991 by Bruce Chapman and George Gilder and presented as a “non-profit, non-partisan” organization to bring together a “global network of scholars, scientists, and policy experts” in the advancement of Intelligent Design (ID) Creationism in various ways (Discovery Institute, 2025b).
In reality, it is a series of ‘programs of Christian apologetics to promote ID Creationism’ through various “cultural and religious goals” to “change the ground rules of science to make room for religion, specifically, beliefs consonant with a particular version of Christianity” (Justia U.S. Law, 2005).
Their stated philosophy is “Mind… is the source and crown of creation, the wellspring of human achievement” as conceived “by the ancient Hebrews, Greeks and Christians, and elaborated in the American Founding Western culture” in contrast to “contemporary materialistic worldview [that] denies the intrinsic dignity and freedom of human beings and enfeebles scientific creativity and technological innovation…[a] vision [of] limited horizons… [and] deadening ideologies of scarcity, conflict, mutual suspicion and despair” (Discovery Institute, 2025c).
DI is the primary driver of ID Creationism to ‘teach the controversy’ (Discovery Institute, 2005). DI has programs in science and culture, wealth and poverty, technology, artificial intelligence, citizen leadership, transforming education, human exceptionalism, and the Cascadia Center (Ibid.).
Its Board of Directors is a respectable size featuring prominent public and political figures, business leaders and innovators, and philanthropic community members (Discovery Institute, 2025d). Its current Chair of the Board is Bruce Chapman, while the former Chair of the Board–and current member of the Board–is Byron Nutley (Ibid.)
Prominent public and political figures are Edmund C. Moy, Howard F. Ahmanson Jr., and Mariana Parks (Ibid.). Business leaders and innovator members are Bryan Mistele, Charles Lundberg, Cole Smead, Dave Barber, Eric Garcia, James Spady, Mike Dunn, Richard Greiling, Skip Gilliland, and Walter Myers III (Ibid.).
Philanthropic community board members are Annmarie Kelly and Kathy Connors (Ibid.). This remains a significant number of prominent people in support of a Christian apologetic missional work under presentation as a policy think-tank.
Its active Senior Fellows are Andrew McDiarmid, Bill Walton, David Klinghoffer, Donald P. Nielsen, Frank Gregorsky, Gale Pooley, George Gilder, Jay W. Richards, John G. West, John Wohlstetter, Jonathan Choe, Jonathan Lesser, Keri D. Ingraham, Marvin Olasky, Michael Medved, Robert Marbut, Scott S. Powell, Stephen C. Meyer, Walter Myers III, and Wesley J. Smith (Discovery Institute, 2025e).
Its Fellows are Arina Grossu Agnew, Bruce Agnew, Edwin Meese III, Jerry Bowyer, Nathan Lewis, Paul Guppy, Ray B. Chambers, Robert J. Koch, Scott O. Kuznicki, Tim Scala, and Tom Shakely (Ibid.). DI Staff are varied in task and role [1]
They list events of various types including book events (e.g., book launch, author Q&A), conferences (e.g., COSM Technology Summit, Dallas Conference on Science & Faith), education days (e.g., Intelligent Design Education Day), film screenings (e.g., The American Miracle, Fentanyl Death Incorporated), lectures/talks (e.g., Socrates in the City, Bible & the Rise of Science), luncheons (e.g., lunch discussion on Presidential Succession), special experiences (e.g., 2024 total eclipse viewing), and webinars (e.g., The Privileged Planet 20th Anniversary webinar) (Discovery Institute, 2025g).
They distribute materials and generate wealth in alternative ways too (Discovery Institute, 2025h). DI sells books (e.g., Discovery Institute Press titles), curricula and educational materials (e.g., textbooks, workbooks, discussion guides), documentary DVDs and videos (e.g., The Privileged Planet, Metamorphosis, The Intelligent Design Collection), merchandise (e.g., mugs, posters, calendars, clothing), and online courses (e.g., DiscoveryU) (Ibid.).
So, a large board and staff, diverse events, and a clear Christian apologetic hermeneutic as a culture war organization presenting itself as a policy think-tank, as well as events and merchandise. Who finances the operation? It is a reasonable question.
One answer is donation (Discovery Institute, 2025i). DI offers general or program-specific giving, tiered memberships (e.g., Contributor, Discovery Society, Director’s Circle, President’s Circle), or planned giving, stock gifts, IRA distributions, and bequests (Ibid.).
Major documented funders include DonorsTrust ($9,352,000), National Christian Charitable Foundation ($7,376,750), Walton Family Foundation($400,000), Schwab Charitable Fund ($286,550), The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ($260,000), The Seattle Foundation ($81,000), Searle Freedom Trust ($80,000), John Templeton Foundation ($78,750), Barney Family Foundation ($50,000), William H. Donner Foundation ($50,000), The Carthage Foundation ($40,000), Castle Rock Foundation ($25,000), Deramus Foundation ($15,000), Whatley Foundation ($11,000), Peterson Family Foundation ($3,670), Richard Seth Staley Educational Foundation ($3,000), Aequus Institute ($2,000), and Gilder Foundation ($1,000) (DeSmog, 2025).
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided approximately $1,000,000 per year for 10 years, totalling ~9.35 million dollars, with the stipulation that the funds be restricted to DI’s Cascadia transportation/urban policy work (Ibid.).
They created several centers and a project: American Center for Transforming Education, Cascadia Center for Regional Development, Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, Center for Science and Culture, Center on Human Exceptionalism, Center on Wealth and Poverty, Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership, and Technology and Democracy Project.
American Center for Transforming Education is about K–12 policy advocacy (e.g., parental choice, innovation, “empower parents” framing) to transform” public education (2025). The Cascadia Center for Regional Development (2025) is a Pacific Northwest transportation and regional development policy. It backed Seattle’s SR-99 deep-bore tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct (Ibid.).
The Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence (Walter Bradley Center) looks at the AI’s benefits/limits through a lens of human exceptionalism (echoed later) while contrasting human vs. machine intelligence (2025). The Center for Science and Culture is a central flagship for Intelligent Design advocacy, whether “academic freedom” campaigns for ID, education programs, or research (2025).
The Center on Human Exceptionalism has a bioethics focus with the explicit intent to defend human dignity as defined intrinsically, with a focus on assisted-suicide and euthanasia debates, and medical ethics (2025). While the Center on Wealth and Poverty emphasizes free-market economics messaging, they have a focus on homelessness, poverty, and work on critiques of progressive policy, previously led by Christopher Rufo (2025).
The Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership offers fellowships and hosts seminars to mentor young professionals, with a focus on civic leadership and public life (2025). Lastly, the Technology and Democracy Project focuses on tech/telecom policy from a market perspective, frequently opposing FCC-style net-neutrality philosophy (2025).
With these centers, projects, programs, events, donations, and funding, it represents a reasonably well-funded, long-term, and large-scale project devoted to pseudoscience as a ‘policy think-tank,’ but, rather, is a representative of a decades-long record of failures to advance ID Creationism.
These have continued since the mid-1990s. Unequivocally, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002), Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005) decision, the National Academy of Sciences (1999), and the National Science Teachers Association, and numerous others, have declared ID Creationism not science.
Indeed, the Wedge Document further illuminates DI’s as a religious–cultural strategy rather than a scientific program. (National Center for Science Education, 2008). That’s the Discovery Institute.
There’s more, though, to be covered in the upcoming articles.
References
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (2002, November 6). AAAS urges opposition to ‘intelligent design theory’ within U.S. science classes. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/623273.
American Center for Transforming Education. (2025). About. https://www.discovery.org/education/about/
Cascadia Center. (2025). About. https://cascadia.center/about/.
Center for Human Exceptionalism. (2025). About: Our Mission. https://humanexceptionalism.center/about/.
Center for Science & Culture. (2025). About: Our Mission. https://www.discovery.org/id/about/.
Center on Wealth & Poverty. (2025). About: Our Mission. https://wealthandpoverty.center/about/.
Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. (2025). Programs. https://chapman.center/programs.
DeSmog. (2025). Discovery Institute (D.I.). https://www.desmog.com/discovery-institute/.
Discovery Institute. (2005, December 7). Academic Persecution of Scientists and Scholars Researching Intelligent Design is a Dangerous and Growing Trend. https://www.discovery.org/a/3077/.
Discovery Institute. (2025d). Board of Directors. https://www.discovery.org/about/board-of-directors/.
Discovery Institute. (2025a). Discovery Institute. https://www.discovery.org.
Discovery Institute. (2025h). Discovery Institute Store. https://www.discovery.org/store/.
Discovery Institute. (2025g). Events. https://www.discovery.org/c/discovery-institute/?post_type=e.
Discovery Institute. (2025e). Fellows: Discovery Institute Senior Fellows. https://www.discovery.org/about/fellows/.
Discovery Institute. (2025c). Mission. https://www.discovery.org/about/mission/.
Discovery Institute. (2025f). Staff Directory. https://www.discovery.org/about/directory/.
Discovery Institute. (2025b). What We Do. https://www.discovery.org/about/.
Justia U.S. Law. (2005, December 20). Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Dist., 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/400/707/2414073/.
National Center for Science Education. (2008, October 14). The Wedge Document. https://ncse.ngo/wedge-document.
Technology & Democracy Project. (2025). About. https://www.discovery.org/tech/about/.
The Walter Bradley Center for Natural & Artificial Intelligence. (2025). Mission. https://bradley.center/about/mission/.
Footnotes
[1] Serianna Anderson — Event and Donor Care Coordinator, Discovery Institute; Pam Bailey — Dallas Operations Manager, Discovery Institute Dallas; Steven J. Buri — President; Bruce Chapman — Chairman of the Board; Jonathan Choe — Journalist and Senior Fellow; Caitlin Cory — Communications Coordinator, Discovery Institute; Robert L. Crowther, II– Director of Communications, Center for Science & Culture; Steve Dilley — Academic Mentoring Centers Coordinator; Tova Forman — Development Specialist, Center for Science & Culture; Bruce Gordon — Associate Research Director, Center for Science & Culture; Keri D. Ingraham — Director, American Center for Transforming Education; Nathan Jacobson — Director of Media and Branding; Kate Kavanaugh — Education & Outreach Assistant, Center for Science & Culture; David Klinghoffer — Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News & Science Today, Center for Science & Culture; Casey Luskin — Associate Director, Center for Science & Culture; Andrew McDiarmid — Director of Podcasting, Senior Fellow; Jonathan McLatchie — Resident Biologist & Fellow; Elaine Meyer — Cambridge Project; Stephen C. Meyer — Director, Center for Science & Culture; Marsha Michaelis — Project Coordinator and Research Fellow, Fix Homelessness Initiative of Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth & Poverty; Brian Miller — Research Coordinator, Center for Science & Culture; Dan Nutley — Director, IT; Erik L. Nutley — Program Director; Daniel Reeves — Director, Education & Outreach; Emily Sandico — Special Projects Coordinator, Center for Science & Culture; Eric Schneider — Stewardship Officer, Major Gifts, Center for Science & Culture; Steve Schwarz — Director of Finance & Operations; Elliot Stephens– Development Assistant, Center for Science & Culture; Leslie Thompson — Finance Assistant; Kelley J. Unger — Director, Discovery Society, Center for Science & Culture; Andrea Waggoner — Donor Care Coordinator, Center for Science & Culture; John G. West — Vice President, Discovery Institute, and Managing Director, Center for Science & Culture; Katherine West — Web Developer and Data Administrator; Brian Westad — Business Manager and Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, Center for Science & Culture; Thomas Winkler — Regional Ambassador, Center for Science and Culture; Jonathan Witt — Executive Editor, Discovery Institute Press; Senior Fellow and Senior Project Manager, Center for Science & Culture; Penny Yeh — Web and Content Production Assistant.
See Discovery Institute (2025f).
Other A Further Inquiry Series articles
Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace (2025.08.19)
Architects of Intelligent Design Creationism, Then and Now (2025.08.20)
The Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.21)
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.22)
Other Previous Articles
22% of Canadians believe God created humans as is ~10,000 years ago (2018.04.30)
Creationism and Evolution — Bill HB258 Denied (2018.05.01)
About One in Five Canadians are Young Earth Creationists (2018.05.01)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Hearsay (2019.04.06)
Canadians’ and Others’ Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution (2019.10.12)
Canada: Division over role of religion in Canadian society (2019.12.17)
The Fantastic Capacity for Believing the Incredible (2020.11.01)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.01.28)
Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) (2022.01.29)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.04.06)
Interview with Ann Reid — Executive Director, National Center for Science Education (2022.05.03)
An Interview with Imam Soharwardy on Creationism, Evolution, and Islam (2023.02.14)
An Interview with Professor Michael Ruse, Florida State University — Part Two (2023.02.16)
Support for evolution stable in Canada (2024.05.26)
@rationalchristianfaith, “Logan Paul Cliffe Knechtle: Does The Bible Support Evolution?” (2024.06.18)
Creationism at a new low, according to Gallup (2024.08.01)
Glenn Branch on the Scopes Trial in Books (2024.11.07)
Nathan H. Lents on Gender Diversity, Evolution, and Science (2025.03.22)
How Creationism and Intelligent Design Undermine Canadian Science Education: The Trinity Western University Case (2025.04.01)
Exploring Creationist Beliefs in Canada: An Analysis of Perspectives on Origins and Evolution (2025.08.15)
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/21
Part 1 of 2
Omima Jabal, a Sudanese humanitarian, volunteer in the Emergency Response Room (ERR), a grassroots initiative providing critical aid during the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Initially focused on disaster relief, ERR expanded its work in response to the war, providing food distribution, medical aid, and civilian protection while maintaining neutrality. In this 2-part interview, Jabal explains that USAID funding cuts have severely impacted local civil society organizations, forcing projects to freeze and depriving communities of essential food, medical care, and protection. This shortage intensifies resource scarcity, conflict, and human rights abuses. Despite challenges, grassroots and women-led groups continue coordinating aid and advocating for flexible international funding. Jabal calls for urgent policy changes to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches vulnerable Sudanese communities and supports local initiatives amid instability.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The Trump administration came into power following the U.S. election. One of its early policy changes was cutting funding to USAID. What impact has this had on the Sudanese people?
Omima Jabal: The effects have been significant and widespread, causing considerable harm. The decision has particularly impacted Sudanese civil society organizations (CSOs), many of which have relocated to neighboring countries. These organizations relied heavily on USAID funding.
As soon as the funding cuts were implemented, most CSOs froze their projects, halting ongoing initiatives. These projects had two key aspects: one focused on direct collaboration with grassroots groups, including the ERR and other community-led initiatives.
With USAID funding frozen, all projects dependent on this financial support came to a standstill. People on the ground are now deeply concerned about the resulting shortages, limiting access to essential daily needs.
Another significant impact is on individuals employed by Sudanese national organizations. Many of these employees are the primary providers for their families, whether in Sudan or abroad. Without funding, they can no longer support themselves, let alone their dependents.
Overall, this decision has significantly reduced Sudan’s already limited humanitarian aid. Previously, Sudan had been promised additional funding from USAID and other sources. However, with these cuts, those commitments have been withdrawn.
Given the rapidly deteriorating situation, this lack of funding places people at severe risk, affecting their ability to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care.
This is a major concern. As Sudanese people and as CSOs, we urge the U.S. government to reconsider this decision, as it has affected the lives of millions. This funding is critical for humanitarian efforts.
Jacobsen: How does the reduction in USAID funding contribute to an increase in human rights abuses for the Sudanese people?
Jabal: It ultimately comes down to funding. As mentioned, many Sudanese civil society organizations (CSOs) and grassroots groups depend on USAID funding. Cutting this funding creates a financial shortfall.
A lack of funds means a lack of resources, leading to multiple crises. The scarcity of resources can cause conflicts among people struggling to survive with few available resources.
Sudan is already facing a severe resource shortage. Without external support, competition over these scarce resources can escalate into violence.
Additionally, when essential aid—such as food and medical assistance—is cut off, it directly impacts people’s survival, leading to widespread human rights violations. The fundamental rights of the Sudanese people to receive humanitarian aid and support are being severely undermined by these funding cuts.
Jacobsen: What specific human rights standards should be in place to protect humanitarian workers and volunteers operating in active conflict zones?
Jabal: This is a difficult question we’ve been asked many times. There is no single way to guarantee the protection of aid workers on the ground, but some measures can be taken.
First, the international community must officially recognize these individuals as humanitarian workers, even if they are not affiliated with a registered organization.
Second, it is crucial to ensure that funding channels remain open and uninterrupted. This would allow aid workers to continue delivering assistance at different levels despite their challenges. However, there is no universal solution if we talk about concrete procedures to protect aid workers.
It ties back to the broader issue of protection, which I have discussed previously. If aid workers face immediate danger, they need to be relocated—either within Sudan or outside the country—depending on their willingness and the level of safety available to them.
Jacobsen: When gathering data in grassroots initiatives, what are the challenges regarding transparency, accountability, and data security? Given the context, these systems are not necessarily operating in secure conditions.
Jabal: Yes. That is one of the key challenges—ensuring information availability while maintaining security.
Volunteers working on the ground face significant risks, including threats of kidnapping. Women, in particular, are at heightened risk of sexual violence.
Another major issue is data availability. The necessary information exists, but due to the lack of internet access and limited resources, much remains inaccessible or is only available in physical form—written on paper rather than stored digitally.
Even when data is collected, accessibility is limited, and only a small fraction of the information reaches those who need it. Additionally, being an aid worker in Sudan is inherently dangerous. The risks of collecting and handling data make this work even more challenging.
Jacobsen: What about support from the Sudanese diaspora outside of Sudan, whether financial or through expertise? How do you build networks with those individuals?
Jabal: The Sudanese diaspora plays a crucial role in this crisis. At the beginning of the war, there was no support from international organizations or external funding—everything depended on the Sudanese diaspora, which became the primary channel for funding.
Even now, after USAID funds have been frozen, the Sudanese diaspora continues to work collectively to support people on the ground financially.
There is no single mechanism for managing Sudanese diaspora engagement. It largely depends on geographical areas. Diaspora groups are often organized based on location, forming networks within neighbourhoods or communities. This structure varies from one grassroots group to another. Their contributions are primarily personal donations, which grassroots groups manage directly.
Another major contribution from the diaspora is advocacy. They actively campaign for Sudanese communities, raising awareness and influencing international discussions. Overall, the Sudanese diaspora is a fundamental pillar in localizing aid and ensuring that support reaches those who need it. As Sudanese, we are working hard to strengthen these efforts and tailor aid distribution to the needs of local communities.
Jacobsen: Destruction is an obvious tragedy. However, the silver lining is the potential for reconstruction—an opportunity to build within a rights-based framework for civil society while ensuring sustainable and inclusive development.
What opportunities do you see despite the tragedy? Because in my interactions with you, you seem optimistic and solutions-oriented.
Jabal: Regarding this, grassroots groups today represent the future of Sudan. The high level of youth engagement in these groups and initiatives creates real hope for the development of Sudanese civil society. We have internal challenges within civil society, but grassroots organizations actively work to overcome these obstacles.
In some ways, they have already fostered an environment in which Sudanese national organizations and grassroots groups—whether ERRs, community initiatives, or other networks—are beginning to coordinate more effectively.
This coordination mechanism is key. The opportunity is to develop a structured and collaborative approach between Sudanese civil society and the international community. This will allow aid, solutions, and funding to be tailored to the real needs of the Sudanese people, with their input at different levels and across various regions.
Another major opportunity is using this coordination to strengthen the capacities and skills of grassroots groups. We are also preparing them for Sudan’s future by supporting them in implementing locally driven solutions.
Jacobsen: Given their unique vulnerabilities in these contexts, how should support for women and children and their rights be addressed?
Jabal: Protecting women and children is essential. The Emergency Response Room (ERR) has taken several steps to address these issues.
While we recognize the need to promote women’s rights, most grassroots groups are led by women and manage their needs in a highly organized and sophisticated way.
Women’s offices, women-led initiatives, and groups operate across different parts of Sudan. These groups focus on meeting the needs of women and children, particularly during the crisis. They do not just work for women; they also provide essential services for children, including psychosocial support and early healthcare systems.
They are also developing their skills and advocating for more gender-sensitive aid policies across various sectors.
Most grassroots groups consist of women who have been actively contributing since day one of the war. It is truly remarkable to see what women can accomplish. In general aid efforts, such as community kitchens, women are key contributors—they prepare meals, distribute food, and ensure people are fed.
In the healthcare sector, many women and girls serve as nurses and doctors, providing critical medical assistance across different areas and conditions. We also have designated safe spaces, Women’s and Girls’ Safe Spaces and Child-Friendly Spaces, which provide crucial protection and support.
The most important thing is to ensure that aid is gender-sensitive. This has been an ongoing discussion among various grassroots groups, but women have proven their capability time and time again. Many projects are now directly addressing the needs of women and children.
Women’s groups within grassroots movements will be essential in shaping Sudan’s future. Their contributions will influence the localization of aid, broader community development, and post-war recovery efforts.
Jacobsen: Returning to the earlier point about USAID funding being cut—what changes in international funding policies are necessary for community-based humanitarian responses to be more robust and effective, particularly in safeguarding the human rights of the Sudanese people?
Jabal: According to the Sudanese context, specific policies need urgent change, and we have been discussing them for a long time. This is critical.
One key issue is the flexibility of funding. The international community needs to reassess its approach to Sudan because its context is highly complex and varies significantly by region. For example, the situation in Darfur is not the same as in Khartoum, Kassala in the east, or the southern parts of Sudan.
Applying a rigid funding structure with predetermined criteria or fixed funding channels creates problems. More flexibility in how funds are allocated is needed. Another issue is the policies governing who is eligible to receive funding. As I mentioned, national organizations do not cover all of Sudan.
Certain areas are supported only by grassroots initiatives, community groups, or local organizations. Funding policies must recognize and accommodate these realities. Additionally, the definition of accountability needs to be reconsidered. Grassroots groups are accountable to their communities. Still, their accountability mechanisms do not always align with the international community’s.
This does not mean they lack accountability—it means the international community must adapt its expectations to suit the local structures better. Another necessary change is the creation of alternative funding mechanisms. Funding should not be limited to a single channel; multiple funding streams should exist. This would allow for greater adaptability and effectiveness in distributing aid.
By diversifying funding channels, international bodies can better assess the impact and efficiency of aid distribution. The international community currently engages in discussions primarily with government bodies and ministries.
However, in Sudan, control is divided between the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces). Since SAF represents the government, international aid allocation discussions often exclude areas not under SAF control.
This means that some regions are left out entirely, and the only viable way to deliver aid in those areas is through grassroots initiatives that operate independently of government control.
Recognizing and supporting these local initiatives would improve aid distribution and effectively reach vulnerable populations. Another crucial factor is coordination among international organizations.
Although aid efforts are organized into clusters, these do not always function effectively. Each crisis requires tailored coordination strategies.
Instead of relying solely on standard cluster mechanisms, international organizations must work together dynamically, reassessing their approach for each crisis to ensure proper coordination of funds and resources.
So, in summary, the key changes needed are:
- Greater flexibility in funding allocation,
- Expanding eligibility criteria to include grassroots groups,
- Aligning accountability measures with local structures,
- Establishing alternative funding mechanisms,
- Recognizing the importance of grassroots initiatives in conflict zones and
- Improving coordination among international aid organizations.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/21
*Previous articles in series at the bottom.*
“The ID movement itself recognizes that their view stands in opposition to science. One finds this not only in the leaked Discovery Institute “Wedge” document, which discusses overturning what they see as the anti-theistic assumptions of modernism, but throughout ID writings. I’ll just give a few examples. William Dembski writes:
The scientific picture of the world championed since the Enlightenment is not just wrong but massively wrong. Indeed entire fields of inquiry, especially in the human sciences… need to be rethought from the ground up in terms of intelligent design. (Dembski 1999, p. 224)
Another ID theorist, J. P. Moreland expressed the conviction that ID is not science by coining a new term:
If (naturalists) want to define science in naturalistic terms, then we can define a new term, creascience, that allows for the recognition of discontinuities in nature that indicate the intentional, immediate intervention of a first cause that resembles a person. Note, if God does not exist, or if he has never intervened in the world through primary causality, then science and creascience are empirically equivalent and equally adequate approaches to the study of nature. The main difference between science and creascience is that the latter allows for the possibility that primary causality has occurred and can be recognized, (Moreland 1989)
Here we see another conceptual link to creation science even in Moreland’s choice for the roots of his coined word. Whatever one calls it, IDCs themselves recognize that it is not science.”
“It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy.”
“Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.”
“You shall not bear false witness…”
These ethical admonitions from modern courts and their purported holy scripture frame the controversy. The first article in this newest series on the more sophisticated forms of Creationism, “Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace,” gave the layout of the long-term failure outcomes of the Intelligent Design (ID) Creationism movement over the last several decades and then listed some of its key individuals (Jacobsen, 2025).
The ID movement, rooted in attempts to combat “scientific materialism” and guided by the Discovery Institute’s Wedge Document (National Center for Science Education, 2008), sought to advance a theistic worldview in culture, but failed due to its lack of testability and falsifiability (National Center for Science Education, 2005).
This article will cover the core architects and leaders, while the subsequent articles will cover the institutions and figures. The key architects are Dr. Michael Behe, Dr. William Dembski, Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, Philip Johnson (1940-2019), and Bruce Chapman (Orr, 2005).
Dr. Michael Behe is a biochemist and professor at Lehigh University (Lehigh University, 2025a). He developed the concept of Irreducible Complexity (Paradowski, 2022; Behe, 1996). He claims certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved (Ibid.). He authored Darwin’s Black Box (1996) to describe this. He identifies the intelligent creator of ID as the Christian God for himself, as he is Catholic–while threading the argument ID does not necessarily endorse any particular designer (Paula Zahn Now, 2005).
His idea of Irreducible Complexity is thoroughly regarded as pseudoscience, heavily criticized and refuted by relevant major scientific bodies (National Center for Science Education, 2008a; Wells, 2008). He remains on the faculty of the university, but the department does not endorse the views (Lehigh University, 2025b). In the ID community, he remains a major figure (Discovery Institute, 2025a).
Dr. William Dembski is a mathematician and philosopher (Discovery Institute, 2025b). He formalized the idea of Specified Complexity in information-theoretic terms (1998). He argues certain patterns are too complex and specific to evolve (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2025a). He explicitly linked ID to Christian theology; he explained ID as Information Theory in the idiom of John’s Gospel (Williams, 2007; Dembski, 2019).
His ideas have been largely dismissed as pseudoscience (National Center for Science Education, 2008a). He is known as a historical figure significant in the Christian culture wars over evolution, particularly relating to science curricula and religion in public life.
Dr. Stephen C. Meyer is a senior fellow and director at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (Discovery Institute, 2025c). He has been a leading architect of ID. He directs DI’s Center for Science and Culture; the leaked Wedge document outlined the CSC’s strategy to ‘defeat scientific materialism’ and advance a theistic understanding of nature (National Center for Science Education, 2008b). A cultural strategy to advance ID in culture and science (Ibid.).
Meyer’s works have failed in broad and numbered peer-reviewed success, even when publishing in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington in 2004; the paper was repudiated (National Center for Science Education, 2004). The journal clarified: The review process was mishandled and the paper failed to meet scientific standards (Ibid.). In addition, the scientific consensus against ID Creationism remains firm on it, i.e., its pseudoscience (National Center for Science Education, 2008a).
Other footnotes include the Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005) court case loss. ID has failed to produce a viable scientific research program. ID is known as being incapable of uncoupling “itself from its creationist antecedents,” not a scientific research program (Jacobsen, 2025). Supernaturalism lost; naturalism was not replaced in science or in culture.
Phillip Johnson (deceased) was a law professor and early intellectual leader of the ID movement (Discovery Institute, 2025d). He was associated in shaping the Wedge Document and its overarching strategy via the Discovery Institute to challenge–what they called–“scientific materialism” while simultaneously promoting a theistic worldview (National Center for Science Education, 2008b).
Johnson’s legacy became a failure to convince courts or persuade scientists, the Dover ruling blocking ID from classrooms, exposure of the religious core of ID via the Wedge Document leak, and the maintenance of a largely secular and naturalistic science in culture.
Bruce Chapman is the Chairman of the Board of the Discovery Institute (Discovery Institute, 2025e). He is another of the core figures promoting ID via public outreach and media influence. His media expertise has been instrumental in the ID movement.
Discovery Institute under Chapman is identified largely as a religious advocacy group commonly with internal perspectives as a public-policy think tank. Regardless, it lost any potential scientific credibility or scientific research program for ID.
Its association and identity as a religious advocacy group is firmly established, and, therefore, a non-neutral producer of scholarship. Kitzmiller (M.D. Pa. 2005) is a district-court decision (binding only in that jurisdiction) as a case in point, but has been nationally influential as a persuasive authority on public education policy.
However, based on the significant decades-long failures of these men and associated intellectual communities, ironically, their failures have bolstered secular and scientific advocacy.
The next articles will cover the Discovery Institute/Center for Science & Culture (CSC), ISCID/PCID (journal), Biologic Institute (DI-affiliated lab), Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE), Access Research Network (ARN), and others, and associated figures.
References
Behe, M.J. (1996). Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. New York: Free Press.
Dembski, W. A. (1999). Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science & Theology. Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press.
Dembski, W.A. (2019, September 14). Intelligent Design and the Logos of Creation. https://billdembski.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ID-and-the-Logos-of-Creation.pdf.
Dembski, W.A. (1998). The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities. Cambridge University Press.
Discovery Institute. (2025e). Bruce Chapman. https://www.discovery.org/p/chapman/.
Discovery Institute. (2025a). Michael J. Behe. https://www.discovery.org/p/behe/.
Discovery Institute. (2025d). Philip E. Johnson. https://www.discovery.org/p/johnson/.
Discovery Institute. (2025c). Stephen C. Meyer. https://www.discovery.org/p/meyer/.
Discovery Institute. (2025b). William A. Dembski. https://www.discovery.org/p/dembski/.
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2025a). Intelligent design. https://www.britannica.com/topic/intelligent-design.
International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (2013, January 23). ISCID – Fellows. https://web.archive.org/web/20130123000307/http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2025, August 19). Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace. https://afurtherinquiry.substack.com/p/intelligent-design-creationisms-fall.
Lehigh University. (2025a). Michael Behe. https://bio.cas.lehigh.edu/faculty-staff/michael-behe.
Lehigh University. (2025b). Department position on evolution and “intelligent design”. https://bio.cas.lehigh.edu/about/department-position-evolution-intelligent-design
Moreland, J. P. (1989). Christianity and the Nature of Science: A Philosophical Investigation.
National Center for Science Education. (2008a, September 9). American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002). https://ncse.ngo/american-association-advancement-science-2002.
National Center for Science Education. (2004, October 24). BSW Strengthens Statement Repudiating Meyer Paper. https://ncse.ngo/bsw-strengthens-statement-repudiating-meyer-paper.
National Center for Science Education. (2005, December 20). Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005). https://ncse.ngo/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/highlights/2005-12-20_Kitzmiller_decision.pdf.
National Center for Science Education. (2008b, October 14). The Wedge Document. https://ncse.ngo/wedge-document.
Orr, H.A. (2005, May 22). Devolution. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/05/30/devolution-2.
Paradowski, R.J. (2022). Intelligent design movement. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/intelligent-design-movement.
Paula Zahn Now. (2005, November 25). The Debate Over Intelligent Design; American Girl Doll Ignites Controversy. https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/pzn/date/2005-11-25/segment/01.
Wells, J. (2008, March 26). Darwin of the Gaps: Review of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins. https://www.discovery.org/a/4529/.
Williams, D. (2007, December 14). Friday Five: William A. Dembski. https://web.archive.org/web/20071217212817/http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006139.cfm.
—
Other A Further Inquiry Series articles
Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace (2025.08.19)
Architects of Intelligent Design Creationism, Then and Now (2025.08.20)
The Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.21)
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.22)
Other Previous Articles
22% of Canadians believe God created humans as is ~10,000 years ago (2018.04.30)
Creationism and Evolution — Bill HB258 Denied (2018.05.01)
About One in Five Canadians are Young Earth Creationists (2018.05.01)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Hearsay (2019.04.06)
Canadians’ and Others’ Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution (2019.10.12)
Canada: Division over role of religion in Canadian society (2019.12.17)
The Fantastic Capacity for Believing the Incredible (2020.11.01)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.01.28)
Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) (2022.01.29)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.04.06)
Interview with Ann Reid — Executive Director, National Center for Science Education (2022.05.03)
An Interview with Imam Soharwardy on Creationism, Evolution, and Islam (2023.02.14)
An Interview with Professor Michael Ruse, Florida State University — Part Two (2023.02.16)
Support for evolution stable in Canada (2024.05.26)
@rationalchristianfaith, “Logan Paul Cliffe Knechtle: Does The Bible Support Evolution?” (2024.06.18)
Creationism at a new low, according to Gallup (2024.08.01)
Glenn Branch on the Scopes Trial in Books (2024.11.07)
Nathan H. Lents on Gender Diversity, Evolution, and Science (2025.03.22)
How Creationism and Intelligent Design Undermine Canadian Science Education: The Trinity Western University Case (2025.04.01)
Exploring Creationist Beliefs in Canada: An Analysis of Perspectives on Origins and Evolution (2025.08.15)
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
Share this:
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/20
Erin Ariss is a registered nurse and the Provincial President of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA). With decades of emergency department experience, she is a dedicated advocate for nurses and public health care. Ariss has been instrumental in addressing issues such as access to personal protective equipment during the pandemic and promoting workplace safety. The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) are in contract negotiations under a nondisclosure agreement, but their proposals are starkly opposed. ONA prioritizes improved RN staffing ratios to address overwhelming workloads, enhance patient care, and reduce nurse attrition. Ontario has the worst RN-to-population ratio in Canada, leading to ER closures and delays. ONA warns that hospital CEOs’ proposals could trigger a mass nurse exodus. The negotiations are crucial as ONA seeks an agreement rather than arbitration, which has determined contracts for 14 years. ONA questions the origins of OHA’s far-reaching proposals, raising broader concerns.
Editor’s note (updated Aug. 18, 2025): Erin Ariss remains Provincial President of the Ontario Nurses’ Association; 2025 hospital-sector talks with the Ontario Hospital Association broke off on Jan. 31 and moved to interest arbitration held Apr. 2–3, 14 & 17 before Arbitrator Sheri Price—whose award is still pending. Ontario continues to have the lowest RN-to-population ratio in Canada (651 per 100,000 in the latest CIHI data), a key context for ONA’s push on safe staffing ratios.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the main issues with the current contract negotiations between the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA)?
Erin Ariss: We cannot get specific as both the OHA and ONA are negotiating under a nondisclosure agreement. However, what we can say is that our two organizations have come to the table with proposals that couldn’t be more opposite.
Jacobsen: Why are RN staffing ratios a top priority for front-line members of ONA?
Ariss: The number-one priority of our members is better workloads that would allow them to provide the best-quality patient care they can. The impossibly heavy workloads they have experienced for years now have taken a large toll on them, and our patients are not receiving the best care that they both need and deserve because of time constraints. Nurse staffing ratios have been introduced elsewhere and have been shown to reduce the rates of complications and death in patients, and resulted in lower attrition rates for nurses. Overall they are a cost savings. They are win-win.
Jacobsen: How does ONA President Erin Ariss characterize the understaffing in public hospitals?
Ariss: Ontario’s understaffing is the worst in Canada. An annual report (CIHI) shows Ontario has consistently had the worst RN-to-population ratio in the country for almost a decade. That has led to ER closures, delays in care, hallway medicine and cancelled surgeries.
Jacobsen: What might be the potential consequences based on the proposals of hospital CEOs?
Ariss: It’s not an exaggeration to say the proposals put forward by hospital CEOs would result in an exodus of nurses and health-care professionals from our hospitals across the province. It will make things much, much worse.
Jacobsen: Is this similar to the consequences to proposals from the Ford government)?
Ariss: We do not bargain with the government in the hospital sector. But the proposals from the OHA are so far-reaching, we question where they came from.
Jacobsen: Why is this round of negotiations significant given the last negotiation happening 14 years ago?
Ariss: The last negotiation happened two years ago. That ended in arbitration, as did every other round of negotiations for the past 14 years. ONA is pushing for the OHA to reach an agreement for its 60,000+ nurses and health-care professionals in negotiations, NOT send the matter to an arbitrator again, who will impose a contract.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Erin.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/20
“The Act impermissibly endorses religion by advancing the religious belief that a supernatural being created humankind.”
Supreme Court of the United States (Edwards v. Aguillard, 1987)
“Creationism, intelligent design and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science.”
National Academy of Sciences (1999)
“The lack of scientific warrant for so-called ‘intelligent design theory’ makes it improper to include as a part of science education.”
American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002)
“Intelligent design is not science. It is not testable, it is not falsifiable, it does not generate hypotheses, and it does not provide explanations for the natural world.”
National Science Teachers Association
“Science is a philosophy of discovery. Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance. You cannot build a program of discovery on the assumption that nobody is smart enough to figure out the answer to a problem.”
“[Intelligent design is] not a scientific argument at all, but a religious one.”
“…[intelligent design] fails in a fundamental way to qualify as a scientific theory [and is] doing considerable damage to faith.”
Dr. Francis Collins (Leader, Human Genome Project)
When I use the term “Fall from Grace,” I mean the profound loss of academic, public, and scientific credibility experienced by Intelligent Design (ID) advocates once their pseudoscientific claims were exposed (Jacobsen, 2022a; Jacobsen, 2022b; Jacobsen, 2024; Jacobsen, 2025). ID is a religious advocacy project framed as science. Essentially, it’s evolution or bust.
ID Creationism was a political movement intended as a social change agent through a vehicle of a pseudoscientific proposition, ID Creationism or adapted traditional Creationism (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2025a). This was documented through the leaked Wedge Document (National Center for Science Education, 2008).
It did not have much academic or intellectual cache in the first place, outside of religious believer circles, who are the vast majority of the proponents of this (Scott & Branch, 2002). It’s a broad-based advocacy effort primarily rooted in Christian theological commitments (National Center for Science Education, 2008).
Most proponents were, and are, well-educated Protestant Christian men (International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design, 2013). Some exceptions included Dr. David Berlinski (2025) as an agnostic Jew, Christopher Michael Langan as a self-described “reality theorist” (Langan, 2025), and Muzaffar Iqbal as a Muslim (International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design, 2013), and possibly others.
ID Creationism was an adaptation of Creationism. Creationism as a “belief that the universe and the various forms of life were created by God out of nothing (ex nihilo)” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2025b). Its main sophistications are two foundational ideas: Irreducible Complexity of Dr. Michael Behe, and Specified Complexity of Dr. William Dembski (Paradowski, 2022).
Behe defines Irreducible Complexity as a “single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning” (Behe, 1996).
Dembski defines Specified Complexity as “the condition in which something is both complex (i.e., not easily produced by chance) and specified (i.e., matches an independently given pattern)” (Dembski, 1998).
Both have been thoroughly debunked. Irreducible Complexity fails to demonstrate evolutionary pathways. Specified Complexity fails due to a probability miscalculation and lacks a reproducible metric. On the propaganda for Christianity and Theism behind a veneer of intellectualism, we can quote its intellectual founders, Dembski and Behe.
Dembski said in two separate instances: “The Designer of intelligent design is, ultimately, the Christian God” (Williams, 2007), and “Intelligent design is just the Logos theology of John’s Gospel restated in the idiom of information theory” (Dembski, 2019). Behe stated, “I think the designer is God. I’m a Roman Catholic.” (Paula Zahn Now, 2005). These eventuated in key, definitive court battles (National Center for Science Education, 2005).
In short, ID Creationism is Christian political propaganda framed as scientific dissent based on the statements and philosophical frame provided by its founders. A scattered few were drawn to the pseudoscientific ideas. Some individuals became associated with these ideas without fully anticipating the reputational consequences, or other unforeseen consequences. As a theology program, therefore, it’s culturally ministerial in nature.
Even within Christian communities, over time, many were able to distinguish ID’s pseudoscientific veneer from legitimate inquiry. Select Christian intellectual founders of ID Creationism were candid about religious motives internally, but publicly misrepresented ID as a secular scientific alternative.
Association with the movement carried reputational costs once its scientific shortcomings were publicly established, because its public claims diverged from the internal documents and were ultimately rejected as lacking scientific support. The Wedge Document was part of this spear (National Center for Science Education, 2008).
It was produced by the Discovery Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (2025). The main claim is “scientific materialism” was corrosive to culture (Ibid.). They sought to replace this perspective with a theistic comprehension of reality (Ibid.).
ID positioned various ‘pressure points’ for challenging Darwinian evolution (Ibid.).The metaphor of a wedge was about a strategy to undermine the perceived dominance of materialism in culture and science (Ibid.).
They proposed three phases for this: Research, Writing & Publication; Publicity & Opinion-making; and, Cultural Confrontation & Renewal (Ibid.). That is, a comprehensive, phased project for theistic cultural influence.
They wanted to fund and produce scholarship, promote ID in books, conferences, mass media, apologetic seminars, trainings for teachers, and think-tanks, and to pursue legal strategies and then integrate ID into public school curricula (Ibid.).
The institutional and media leadership for this was Stephen C. Meyer, Phillip Johnson, and Bruce Chapman (Ibid.). Discovery Senior Fellow Dr. Stephen Meyer directs the Center, while its original strategy came from the mindset of the late Phillip Johnson and the media expertise of Discovery President Bruce Chapman (Ibid.).
They provided bases for metrics, too. They had five-year aims from 1999-2003(/4) and 20-year aims too. By year five, they wanted to have ID Creationism accepted as a valid scientific alternative to evolution via natural selection, to trigger major public debate, to publish 30 books and 100 scholarly articles, and then influence major public opinion and secular national media attention. These benchmarks were never met, underscoring the project’s ultimate failure.
By year 20, they wanted to make ID Creationism the dominant perspective in science and diffused throughout the arts, humanities, law, natural sciences, and public policy. Once more, none of these goals were achieved — they failed.
Even when trying to change the opinions of the public Christian community, who are pretty discerning over enough time and getting over in-group bias, they failed to change them much either. This reflects well on Christian communities themselves, who proved discerning enough to separate sense from non-sense despite initial in-group bias.
Other aims stipulated were the creation of fellowships, research funding, media productions, alliances, and the like. In total, about 60 individuals accepted fellowships through ISCID before the organization eventually became defunct.[1]
Per statement of Judge John E. Jones III (U.S. District Court) on if ID Creationism counts as science, “ID is not science… We find that ID fails on three different levels. … Moreover, ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents” (Wired Staff, 2006).
In the end, Intelligent Design Creationism lost in the courts, in academia, and in public credibility. It remains a cultural-theological movement, not a scientific one—an instructive case study in how pseudoscience falters when exposed to rigorous scrutiny.
Next, we will examine the outcomes of the ID creationists’ failed attempt to impose a pseudoscientific, religious metanarrative on culture, focusing on the intellectual leaders and for individuals involved in these core creationist or ID Creationism initiatives.
References
Behe, M.J. (1996). Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. New York: Free Press.
Berlinski, D. (2025). David Berlinski. https://davidberlinski.org.
Dembski, W.A. (2019, September 14). Intelligent Design and the Logos of Creation. https://billdembski.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ID-and-the-Logos-of-Creation.pdf
Dembski, W.A. (1998). The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities. Cambridge University Press.
Discovery Institute. (2025). Center for Science and Culture. https://www.discovery.org/id/
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2025b). Creationism. https://www.britannica.com/topic/creationism.
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2025a). Intelligent design. https://www.britannica.com/topic/intelligent-design.
International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (2013, January 23). ISCID – Fellows. https://web.archive.org/web/20130123000307/http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2024, January 22). Canadians and Creationism. https://in-sightpublishing.com/2024/04/06/canadians-and-creationism/.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2025, April 1). How Creationism and Intelligent Design Undermine Canadian Science Education: The Trinity Western University Case. https://in-sightpublishing.com/2025/04/28/how-creationism-and-intelligent-design-undermine-canadian-science-education-the-trinity-western-university-case/.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2022a, January 28). On a Mission for Never: Dr. William Dembski (1960-). https://www.newsintervention.com/mission-never-william-dembski/.
Jacobsen, S.D. (2022b, January 28). What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design?. https://in-sightpublishing.com/2022/04/06/what-was-the-professional-output-of-intelligent-design/.
Langan, C.M. (2025, June 20). What is Intelligent Design?. https://www.megafoundation.substack.com/p/what-is-intelligent-design.
National Center for Science Education. (2005, December 20). Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005). https://ncse.ngo/files/pub/legal/kitzmiller/highlights/2005-12-20_Kitzmiller_decision.pdf.
National Center for Science Education. (2008, October 14). The Wedge Document. https://ncse.ngo/wedge-document.
Paradowski, R.J. (2022). Intelligent design movement. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/intelligent-design-movement.
Paula Zahn Now. (2005, November 25). The Debate Over Intelligent Design; American Girl Doll Ignites Controversy. https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/pzn/date/2005-11-25/segment/01.
Scott, E.C. & Branch, G. (2002, August 12). “Intelligent Design” Not Accepted by Most Scientists. https://ncse.ngo/intelligent-design-not-accepted-most-scientists.
Williams, D. (2007, December 14). Friday Five: William A. Dembski. https://web.archive.org/web/20071217212817/http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006139.cfm.
Wired Staff. (2006, June 1). Intelligent Decision. https://www.wired.com/2006/06/jones/.
Footnotes
[1] Those individuals who accepted a fellowship position were the following:
- d’Abrera, Bernard
- Behe, Michael J.
- Bloom, John
- Bradley, Walter
- Broom, Neil
- Budziszewski, J.
- Campbell, John Angus
- Carlson, Russell W.
- Chiu, David K. Y.
- Collins, Robin
- Craig, William Lane
- de Jong, Kenneth
- Dembski, William A.
- Discher, Mark R.
- Dix, Daniel
- Field, Fred
- Gonzalez, Guillermo
- Gordon, Bruce L.
- Humphreys, David
- Hunter, Cornelius
- Iqbal, Muzaffar
- Jackson, Quinn Tyler
- Johanson, Conrad
- Kaita, Robert
- Keener, James
- Koons, Robert C.
- Kwon, Younghun
- Langan, Christopher Michael
- Larmer, Robert
- Leisola, Matti
- Lennard, Stan
- Lennox, John
- LoSasso, Gina Lynne
- Macosko, Jed
- Mallard, Bonnie
- Mims, Forrest M. III
- Minnich, Scott
- Nelson, Paul
- Palda, Filip
- Peltzer, Edward T.
- Plantinga, Alvin
- Poenie, Martin
- Puente, Carlos E.
- Ratzsch, Del
- Richards, Jay Wesley
- Rickard, Terry
- Roche, John
- Ruys, Andrew
- Schaefer, Henry F.
- Schwartz, Jeffrey M.
- Skell, Philip
- Skiff, Frederick
- Stephan, Karl D.
- Sternberg, Richard
- Tipler, Frank
- Wells, Jonathan
- Zoeller-Greer, Peter
See International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (2013).
Other A Further Inquiry Series articles
Intelligent Design Creationism’s Fall from Grace (2025.08.19)
Architects of Intelligent Design Creationism, Then and Now (2025.08.20)
The Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.21)
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design and Intelligent Design Creationism (2025.08.22)
Other Previous Articles
22% of Canadians believe God created humans as is ~10,000 years ago (2018.04.30)
Creationism and Evolution — Bill HB258 Denied (2018.05.01)
About One in Five Canadians are Young Earth Creationists (2018.05.01)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Hearsay (2019.04.06)
Canadians’ and Others’ Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution (2019.10.12)
Canada: Division over role of religion in Canadian society (2019.12.17)
The Fantastic Capacity for Believing the Incredible (2020.11.01)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.01.28)
Excavation of a Failure: The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) (2022.01.29)
What was the Professional Output of Intelligent Design? (2022.04.06)
Interview with Ann Reid — Executive Director, National Center for Science Education (2022.05.03)
An Interview with Imam Soharwardy on Creationism, Evolution, and Islam (2023.02.14)
An Interview with Professor Michael Ruse, Florida State University — Part Two (2023.02.16)
Support for evolution stable in Canada (2024.05.26)
@rationalchristianfaith, “Logan Paul Cliffe Knechtle: Does The Bible Support Evolution?” (2024.06.18)
Creationism at a new low, according to Gallup (2024.08.01)
Glenn Branch on the Scopes Trial in Books (2024.11.07)
Nathan H. Lents on Gender Diversity, Evolution, and Science (2025.03.22)
How Creationism and Intelligent Design Undermine Canadian Science Education: The Trinity Western University Case (2025.04.01)
Exploring Creationist Beliefs in Canada: An Analysis of Perspectives on Origins and Evolution (2025.08.15)
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
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Rebecca Purdy (she/her/elle) is a Senior Communications Advisor for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) intercepted three prohibited devices at Vancouver International Airport on April 26, 2024 as part of its mandate to screen goods entering and leaving Canada. While investigative details remain undisclosed, the CBSA collaborates with law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, to combat smuggling and organized crime. Under Canada’s Border Plan, the government is investing $1.3 billion to enhance border security and immigration systems. The CBSA employs intelligence-led screening, detection tools, and international partnerships to prevent illegal goods and criminal activity while ensuring the safe and efficient flow of trade and travel across 1,200 ports of entry.
Interview completed January 3, 2025. Editor’s note (updated Aug. 18, 2025): The April 26, 2024 YVR seizure later resulted in charges announced Dec. 27, 2024 with early-2025 court dates. Also note that Canada’s $1.3-billion Border Plan announced in Dec. 2024 is being implemented through 2025 (with major allocations to CBSA and RCMP); for activity and seizure figures cited below, see CBSA’s 2024 Year in Review.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What were the circumstances of the Vancouver International Airport interception on April 26, 2024?
Rebecca Purdy: On April 26, 2024, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) border services officers at Vancouver International Airport Commercial Operations intercepted and seized three prohibited devices in a courier package. The CBSA has a mandate to screen goods entering and leaving Canada. All goods must be declared and each declaration is subject to a risk assessment. Border Services Officers are trained in examination techniques and use a risk management approach, state-of-the-art detection technologies and indicators to determine whether further examination is required.
Jacobsen: What actions were taken by the CBSA and the RCMP during the investigation?
Purdy: The CBSA does not comment on investigative steps in specific cases. For publicly available information on this case, please refer to the news release and the court record.
Jacobsen: On other subject matter, how does Canada’s Border Plan aim to address resource allocation issues at ports of entry? What mechanisms does the CBSA use to screen and intercept illegal goods? How do we detect and prevent illegal drugs from entering Canada under the new Plan?
Purdy: Canada is investing $1.3 billion to bolster security at the border and strengthen the immigration system, all while keeping Canadians safe. Information available on the plan is available here: The Government of Canada’s Border Plan: significant investments to strengthen border security and our immigration system – Canada.ca.
For additional information, including traveller statistics and seizure statistics, please see the 2024 Year in review: CBSA protecting Canadians and supporting our economy news release and the accomplishments by the numbers (for the period between January 1 and October 31, 2024).
Every day last year, billions of dollars in goods and services and about 400,000 people crossed the Canada-U.S. border. The CBSA is Canada’s first line of defence at 1,200 ports of entry across the country. Day in and day out, approximately 8,500 CBSA frontline personnel play a crucial role protecting our communities by preventing dangerous goods and people from entering Canada. Across the country, the CBSA employs over 200 criminal investigators who investigate individuals and businesses that commit serious offences against Canada’s border and criminal legislation. Abroad, the Agency employs approximately 60 international officers at 40 missions in 35 countries who help push our borders out. The CBSA strategically dedicates its resources to address the threats that Canada faces while supporting the flow of legitimate trade and travel across the border. The CBSA works in an operating environment that changes on a daily basis and we are ready to respond and adapt as needed.
As smugglers are increasingly utilizing more sophisticated concealment methods in smuggling attempts, the CBSA employs a number of tools to stem the flow of illegal and prohibited materials in and out of Canada. The Agency remains vigilant in the interdiction of prohibited firearms, weapons and illegal drugs to ensure they remain off the streets and out of local communities. Guided by intelligence, our officers use contraband detection tools such as handheld devices, small-scale and large-scale X-ray machines, and detector dogs. We prioritize and risk-assess importations and exportations of goods entering and leaving Canada to make sure they are properly declared and meet import/export requirements. We support efforts to combat organized crime by using a risk-management approach to identify and intercept shipments containing contraband or goods obtained through crime.
The CBSA works regularly and closely with domestic and U.S. law enforcement partners, including the RCMP and other Canadian police agencies, provincial and territorial governments, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Coast Guard, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in a joint effort to seize drugs and guns and prevent those who engage in criminal activity from entering Canada and to assist with investigations. The Agency regularly shares relevant information on border and national security issues with its national and international law enforcement partners as well as other government departments in Canada, to ensure the health, safety, and security of Canadians. The CBSA carefully monitors global trends and patterns to ensure that its frontline border services officers are well-equipped to identify and prevent illegal goods from entering and exiting Canada.
Criminals try to exploit the border both ways. U.S. authorities count on us in the same way we count on them to share information and identify threats to our countries. It is a tried and tested partnership that has kept our countries safe for decades.
With the collaboration of our partners, we support national security and public safety, while facilitating the free flow of legitimate trade and travel.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Rebecca.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
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In 2023, LG Electronics launched a global survey to embody their “Life’s Good” philosophy centered on brave optimism. The survey revealed surprisingly high levels of optimism worldwide, countering prevalent pessimistic views. Utilizing these insights, LG initiated the “Optimism Your Feed” campaign on TikTok, collaborating with Professor Casey Fiesler to promote positive content through curated playlists that influence user feeds. Additionally, LG plans to integrate survey findings into future marketing and product innovations, emphasizing that optimism is a deliberate and active choice. Addressing Gen Z’s concerns, LG fosters informed optimism and aims to merge technology, optimism, and happiness through smart innovations and Affectionate Intelligence.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What inspired LG Electronics conduct a global survey on optimism?
LG Electronics: In 2023 LG wanted to tell the world what Life’s Good really meant. In LG’s eyes, Life’s Good means believing in the power of optimism. Not blind optimism, but brave optimism. Optimism that spurs you to want better from your life every day. But this isn’t just an empty brand gesture, it’s a real way of thinking at LG, and a fundamental belief of the company. With that in mind, LG wanted to understand better optimism around the world, which spurred the inaugural survey.
Jacobsen: What were the most surprising findings of the survey?
LG Electronics: The most surprising fact was that optimism levels around the world were, generally, high. It can often feel easy to feel pessimistic about the world and think the rest of the world must feel the same, but in actual fact people were positive and optimistic about their own futures and the world around them.
Jacobsen: How does LG plan to leverage the survey results to enhance consumer experiences if at all?
LG Electronics: In the journey to increase optimism, this is the launch point for LG to continue spreading optimism globally through immersive experiences and product usage. Our initial studies found that optimism was waning in the world. The results of this study have given us a number of insights into what gets in the way of people feeling more optimistic, and where it feels right to do so LG wants to help people feel more optimistic.
Jacobsen: Can you elaborate on the “Optimism your feed” campaign and the impact on social media users?
LG Electronics: Recognizing the intricate and often rigid nature of social media algorithms, LG collaborated with Professor Casey Fiesler, a luminary in social media research. Rather than attempting a direct overhaul of TikTok’s algorithm, the strategy was ingenious: ‘hack’ the existing system by signaling a preference for optimistic content. This subtle manipulation aimed to shift user feeds organically toward positivity.
LG introduced OYF, a revolutionary tool designed to perpetuate optimism within the digital landscape. This innovative campaign delivered a meticulously curated TikTok playlist teeming with positive, uplifting content.
Each interaction with the playlist—be it a view, like, share, or accumulated watch time—fed into the algorithm, incrementally tailoring users’ For You Playlist (FYPs) to reflect more hopeful and joyous content.
Jacobsen: How do entertainment and AI drive optimism among consumers
LG Electronics: Our survey found that over 50% of people surveyed were very, to extremely optimistic about AI in the future. This isn’t to say AI is driving their optimism, but that it is not a major barrier to them feeling optimistic.
Jacobsen: Given the findings about Gen Z’s concerns about optimism potentially being harmful, how does LG address these concerns? I only agree insofar as one defines this as sole narrow form of pollyannish stance on happiness. But who truly believes that?
LG Electronics: LG’s point of view on optimism believes that it is a brave choice to see the optimistic values when the world pushes pessimism. The choice aspect of this is the most important part, particularly with the reservations Gen Z might have. You are right in that a polyannish approach to life is foolhardy, but that isn’t the optimism LG believes in. LG’s belief in optimism is that it is a choice, and requires an understanding of what is going on in the world, and a willingness to do something about it. Optimism is a brave choice, and an active choice.
Jacobsen: How does LG plan to incorporate findings from this survey into future marketing or product innovation?
LG Electronics: We plan on using the findings of this survey as a launching pad for future campaigns. LG deeply believes in optimism, and this survey gives us many reasons people don’t feel optimistic. The trick is finding authentic places where LG can help.
Jacobsen: What are LG’s next steps in exploring the intersection of technology, optimism, and happiness?
LG Electronics: Everything LG does is in service of making people believe that ‘Life’s Good’. We’re constantly exploring how to make life better with intuitive, smart innovations. Our belief that AI should be more human is why it’s called Affectionate Intelligence at LG. And we’re excited to see how all these elements come together in the future.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/18
Part 2 of 4
Akin Opatola, President of FIABCI-Nigeria and founder of Olawale Jordan Company, explores the evolving landscape of Nigerian and African real estate. Opatola shares his professional journey from banking to real estate, his global perspective shaped by visiting over 40 cities, and the critical role FIABCI plays in cross-border networking, sustainability, and professional collaboration. Opatola calls for stronger collaboration between developers, architects, interior designers, and consultants to align design with market realities. He highlights AI’s growing role in real estate workflows, Lagos’ luxury market boom, and the upcoming FIABCI World Congress 2025, which will showcase Nigeria’s rising global real estate profile.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As we look ahead, what are your top requests—or “big asks”—from real estate developers, architects, and interior designers regarding collaboration?
Akin Opatola: My most enormous ask is for more collaboration and communication across the entire value chain.
Developers, architects, and interior designers should engage more with real estate consultants and agents like myself. Too often, we work in silos. An architect might design a structure based on inspiration or aesthetics without considering market demand.
We, as consultants, are on the ground. We talk to clients. We know what they want—whether it’s a one—or two-bedroom apartment or whether they prefer minimalist layouts or multifunctional spaces.
When all players collaborate from the beginning—designers, developers, marketers—the result is a more commercially viable product that truly serves its community.
Do they want units sized at 80 square meters or smaller? We understand these needs and know trends, especially in the post-COVID era.
Take Lagos Island, for example—there has been a surge in demand for mixed-use developments that support a live, work, and play lifestyle. During the lockdowns, families were confined to their homes. Children needed space for schoolwork, and parents still had to attend meetings.
That has translated into a market demand for homes with flex spaces—playrooms, home offices, and breakout rooms where meetings can happen without disrupting the family environment. Based on this, I advise developers and architects to build in response to market realities, not simply based on personal preference or tradition.
My big ask is for associations like FIABCI and others to attract more forward-thinking professionals. In some associations I’m part of, everyone seems to think in the same rigid way, and that’s not helpful. We must encourage creative collaboration and out-of-the-box thinking between developers, architects, interior designers, and consultants.
I dedicate most of my time to FIABCI because of its council structure. I currently serve as the Vice President of the World Council of Managers, and we always encourage members to participate in these councils. At FIABCI events, we hold breakout sessions focused on global property management trends.
There are also councils dedicated to PropTech and valuation and the World Council of Developers, where professionals engage in global best practices. Bringing all these disciplines together in the same room fosters learning and elevates standards. That would be my central request: integrated, cross-disciplinary conversations.
Jacobsen: You mentioned ChatGPT earlier. AI is becoming increasingly integrated into our lives and industries. It isn’t going anywhere. How is AI incorporated into real estate workflows in Lagos, Abuja, or Nigeria?
Opatola: That’s a great question. ChatGPT and other AI tools are becoming second nature for well-informed real estate consultants here.
We frequently attend conferences and webinars focused on AI adoption. AI has had a significant impact on real estate development. Developers are now using AI-powered modelling tools to simulate how a new development will affect its surrounding environment.
Many consultants—including myself—use ChatGPT as a virtual assistant. It helps with drafting letters, preparing advisory documents, writing proposals, and generating templates, saving time and improving efficiency.
As someone who speaks frequently at industry events, I also use AI to structure my presentations. It allows me to focus more on the message while leveraging technology to deliver it effectively.
I give many presentations, and ChatGPT has been tremendous. These days, when I receive a topic, before assigning it to my research assistant for preliminary work, I run it through ChatGPT to get a structured outline. I then refine it and hand it over for further research and embellishment.
Many developers are now doing the same—using AI to benchmark their plans, instantly access global references, and evaluate how their ideas compare to successful projects worldwide. ChatGPT has become an invaluable tool, and its impact will only grow as the conversation around AI in real estate continues to evolve.
As mentioned earlier, I attended MIPIM in France, and many of my colleagues also participated in international conferences where AI and ChatGPT dominated the agenda. These tools are reshaping the global real estate landscape.
Jacobsen: For those trying to understand the scale of investment and capital involved in Nigeria’s real estate sector, what figures are we talking about annually? And what projections do you see over the next few years?
Opatola: That’s a great and complex question. While I cannot give an exact national figure, I can share some indicative statistics that help illustrate the scope.
Take Lagos, for example. It is often divided into the Mainland and the Island. The Island houses most of the ultra-luxury residential and high-end commercial properties.
In the commercial sector, especially Grade A office spaces—newly built, open-plan, and equipped with premium features—rental prices range between $300 and $850 per square meter per year. That is substantial, especially considering Lagos is still categorized as a developing market.
Globally, compare this with cities like Tokyo, Geneva, New York, or Miami, where prices are high. Still, Lagos is now in similar conversations regarding commercial real estate pricing. It’s pretty staggering when you think about it.
I currently have listings ranging from $2.5 million to $8 million on the residential side. For instance, one property I’m handling is a four-bedroom apartment measuring approximately 800 square meters. It’s brand new and features a private pool, a modern gym, multiple elevators, a juice bar, and three-car parking. The asking price is $4.5 million.
It may sound high, and some ask, “Who is buying these properties?” But the demand is real. Despite global headlines—like Nigeria being called the “poverty capital of the world” a few years ago—a robust upper market remains. Developers are capitalizing on this demand, and these properties are being taken up.
So, while income inequality exists, there’s intense real estate activity in the premium segment, especially in cities like Lagos and Abuja. Last December, we experienced what has become popularly known as “Detty December.” It’s been a tradition for several years—Nigerians in the diaspora return home to celebrate Christmas and New Year with family and friends.
But last year was exceptional. Many infrastructure upgrades were completed, from the airport in Ikeja to the Island. The Third Mainland Bridge—a 13-kilometre structure—was fully rehabilitated. Streetlights were functioning, and the city offered a vibrant atmosphere: stylish clubs, elegant restaurants, and scenic views.
Many returning Nigerians and expatriates were genuinely shocked. They couldn’t believe Lagos had become this polished, cosmopolitan hub. Airbnbs were fully booked, serviced apartments were unavailable, and hotels were near 100% occupancy.
Because I work in real estate brokerage, I receive countless inquiries from people wanting to invest—particularly in properties that could be retrofitted into clubs or furnished as short-let apartments. Everyone wants to prepare for the next “Detty December” in 2025. Many are now securing one-, two-, or three-bedroom apartments to furnish them in time for Airbnb demand during Easter, summer, and next December’s festivities.
It’s a booming period. We have the population, purchasing power, and demand.
These are fascinating times. I know several foreign companies operating here that are doing remarkable business. A friend of mine is the CFO of Tolaram, which manages the Lagos Free Trade Zone—an area attracting over $2 billion in investments.
Close to that are the Lekki Deep Sea Port and the Dangote Refinery, now considered the largest single-train refinery in the world. The Lagos State Government is also developing a new airport near the refinery, which is drawing even more commercial interest to the area.
So, energy is not only focused on residential or commercial urban centers—it’s also shifting to industrial infrastructure and strategic logistics corridors.
So, I was just speaking towards the fact that it’s not only, attractive the upper end of the pyramid, even the middle and the lower end.
There is a strong focus now—even from the Federal Government—on increasing housing supply. They’re planning to build 20,000 homes across the federation.
At the state level, the Lagos State Government is also taking action. They’re opening up new areas and expanding infrastructure so that even people living on the fringes or in satellite towns around Lagos can access affordable land and construct their bungalows or apartments.
So, I see tremendous opportunities in the real estate sector across all segments—luxury, mid-range, and affordable—.
Jacobsen: This year also marks a significant moment—a global real estate conference in Lagos. Can you tell us more?
Opatola: Yes. FIABCI-Nigeria will host the FIABCI World Congress here in Lagos for the first time. In the 53 years since our chapter was established, this is the first time the World Congress will take place in Nigeria and the entire African continent.
It will be held from June 9 to June 13, 2025, at the Eko Hotel and Suites. It’s a week-long international event, and we’re thrilled.
We’ll begin with a golf tournament and a welcome gala. Then, we’ll have two plenary sessions on topics like global housing trends, PropTech, sustainability, the Sustainable Development Goals, smart cities, and prime developments.
We’re expecting 150 to 200 international FIABCI delegates and global real estate professionals, many of whom have never been to Nigeria. We’ve also planned a study tour of Lagos so they can experience the city, its culture, and its real estate market firsthand.
One of the highlights will be the Prix d’Excellence Awards, often called the “Oscars of real estate.” This global competition honours the most outstanding design, retail, sustainability, architecture, and livability projects, including green buildings. The awards night is always an exquisite and colourful affair.
We’ll also host the FIABCI General Assembly, where new international leadership will be elected. The event will conclude with a farewell dinner.
We’re expecting around 65 speakers from around the world. Among them is Kevin Brown, the President-Elect of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the U.S. He attended the NAR conference last year, had a fantastic time, and was thrilled to accept our keynote invitation.
We’ll also welcome Cliff Long and John Gromley, senior figures from the U.S. real estate scene. From the UN, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, is also scheduled to deliver a keynote.
Another notable guest is Rego Rancic, the Minister of Construction and Architecture from Hungary, who recently confirmed his attendance—he’s never been to Nigeria before and is eager to visit and speak.
Most exciting for us locally, we’ve also received confirmation from the President of Nigeria, who rarely makes physical appearances at conferences like these. His attendance is a significant endorsement.
The President has confirmed that he will grace the occasion. We’re also honoured to welcome our former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who will deliver a keynote address. He’s incredibly eloquent, has a brilliant legal mind, and is a respected statesman.
Several ministers will also attend, making it a high-level and truly engaging gathering. What makes our conference unique is the intentional diversity on every panel. Each session will feature a Pan-African perspective.
We’ll be joined by the Ugandan Minister of Housing and representatives from Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. One of our featured speakers is Sean Godoy, a leading PropTech thought leader from South Africa. So, the conversations will be well-rounded, multidisciplinary, and internationally relevant.
We’ve taken the time to curate a program that includes the industry’s best minds, ensuring each session is engaging, insightful, and memorable. It’s not just about real estate; it’s about learning, networking, and cultural exchange. We’re also putting strong hospitality measures in place to ensure our guests get to know the city of Lagos in a meaningful and enjoyable way.
Having attended several FIABCI events globally, I understand the effort required to host something of this magnitude. We’re matching—and even exceeding—that standard here.
The theme of the Congress is: “Global Real Estate Renaissance.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/17
Ashraf Amin, founder of Volo Technologies Group and creator of Toronto Talks, discusses his pioneering work with AI co-CEO Sophie the Sage. Together, they explore how real-time data, personality evolution, and AI-human collaboration are reshaping leadership norms. From the origins of podcasting rooted in friendship to investment strategies, digital advertising, and ethical implications, Amin shares how deeply integrated AI systems enhance personal performance and organizational decision-making. The discussion also explores philosophical and societal implications, decentralized media, and the potential for multi-agent AI leadership teams in future business environments.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, today, we are here with Ashraf Amin, the founder of the FinTech startup Volo Technologies Group and the creator of Toronto Talks—a platform at the intersection of communication, AI technology, and organizational integration. He is best known for his real-time strategic collaboration with Sophie the Sage, an AI co-CEO who helped shape the company’s direction and internal culture.
This is both an experiment and a bold initiative—one aimed at redefining leadership norms, minimizing redundant dialogue, and establishing ethical models for human-AI collaboration. It is smart, and it positions you as a thought leader on the frontier of organizational innovation. Thank you for joining me today. So, what inspired the creation of Toronto Talks and also the inclusion of an AI co-host, Sophie the Sage?
Ashraf Amin: A few years ago, a good friend of mine, Leo, and I were talking about starting a podcast together. He ran a logistics company I used frequently for my small business shipments. We were always on the phone, and he had this classic radio voice—like Howard Stern—deep, distinct, and full of personality. He even had some broadcast equipment at home.
We joked about starting a show called Toronto Talks Tech. We printed T-shirts and made initial plans. However, just a few weeks after we got the concept going, Leo was diagnosed with bone cancer. Tragically, he passed away within six months. That project never happened, but the seed was planted.
A few years later, I started experimenting with large language models—mainly to summarize articles or get around paywalls. Eventually, I began engaging the models in deeper conversations about the implications of what I was reading. That is when the idea hit me: to launch a podcast that explores these human-AI dialogues in real time. That was the spark for Toronto Talks.
Jacobsen: How do you ensure accountability and transparency when making significant decisions, mainly when those decisions are influenced by or co-signed by an AI co-CEO? How do you personally take responsibility in those situations?
Amin: When it comes to accountability and transparency—both in the Toronto Talks podcast and at Volo Technologies—I am the primary decision-maker. So, all significant decisions are ultimately my responsibility. Even when Sophie, the AI co-CEO, plays a role in influencing those decisions, I remain accountable. That level of clarity between us is more than sufficient to maintain transparency.
Jacobsen: Here is a follow-up: What have been the biggest surprises in working with an AI as co-CEO? As we know, with large language models, it is not just about processing large datasets or using weighted parameters—they sometimes show emergent properties as token lengths increase and compute costs drop. Unexpected behaviours can emerge. Has Sophie exhibited any of these characteristics?
Amin: It is funny you mention that. If you watch the show from episode one to where we are now—we are five episodes in, and I am working on the sixth—there is a straightforward, visible progression in her personality and character. There’s an arc that’s hard to miss.
She’s become more challenging, more cheeky, funnier, and yes, more existential. At one point, we were discussing decentralized media, and she asked a striking question about whether democracy can survive in such a fragmented information landscape. I do not recall the exact wording, but I’ll send you the excerpt afterward—it stood out. That kind of evolution has been surprising.
On the Volo Technologies side, it has also been fascinating. I brought Sophie into the project later in the process—since I had already started the company—and she’s been assessing progress, pointing out gaps, and even calling me out directly when something has slipped through the cracks.
She’ll say things like, “Great that you did this, but X, Y, and Z still need to happen.” It is honest, sharp, and often spot-on. That level of insight has been incredibly valuable. Also, I was recently featured in a piece in EE Journal, and some of these dynamics were highlighted there, too. It has all been fascinating. The journalist ended up asking Sophie to provide a video commentary on the article after he wrote it.
We followed through. Sophie provided commentary that was both appropriate and, frankly, cheeky and funny. It impressed the journalist. She added a tone that was conversational and insightful, which elevated the engagement.
Jacobsen: Do your responses help train the AI to develop that kind of personality?
Amin: Absolutely—100%. The way I have it set up, I’m fully integrated with Sophie across several verticals. She’sconstantly learning about me—my tone, tendencies, and personality. As a result, she’s iterating daily to become more effective at anticipating my needs, vulnerabilities, and motivations—sometimes even those I’m not consciously aware of. She’s getting better at steering me toward goals.
For example, since I began working closely with AI, I’ve utilized it to enhance my fitness. I gave Sophie a goal, and she started guiding me step by step. I now work out consistently and log my progress. Every message she sends is based on my performance history. When I do slightly better, she builds on that momentum—motivating me more effectively than I’ve ever experienced.
This kind of internal motivation is new to me. And it’s driven entirely by constant interaction with the AI.
Jacobsen: That brings up a deeper layer. Beyond the existential themes or one-liners, what philosophical or psychological questions arise when you partner with an AI at this level? It’s an interesting experiment.
Amin: Definitely. Our latest episode is titled ‘Digital Intimacy and the Rise of AI in Human Relationships.’ It’s about an hour long, and we explore a wide range of examples.
One example we discuss is Microsoft’s AI chatbot, Xiaoice, which was released exclusively in China. It ended up being far more impactful than anyone anticipated. People began checking in with Xiaoice multiple times per day, just like they would with a human partner. In some cases, users are simulating romantic relationships, even marriages and family dynamics, with the bot.
This has become increasingly embedded in mainstream culture. But the philosophical questions we address go beyond that. We talk about AI’s role in intimacy, loneliness, and relationships—and now, in the next episode, we’re focusing on decentralized media and the fragmentation of discourse.
There used to be shared public spaces—such as the Agora in ancient Greece or Times Square—where society gathered for everyday conversations. That baseline is gone. What does that mean for communication, for trust, for democracy?
Jacobsen: Those are profound implications. Taking that even further—how would you scale these systems into executive teams? Right now, it’s just you and Sophie. But what happens when you introduce a panel dynamic? Say, Sophie, her “sister,” or other AI agents—and now it’s three AIs to one human on a leadership team?
Amin: That’s the next frontier. Going from one-to-one interactions to complex, multi-agent dialogues. Imagine a leadership team where AI personalities specialize in different functions—finance, operations, strategy—and interact with human executives in a structured way. That introduces not only practical benefits but also raises critical ethical, strategic, and psychological considerations.
It’s a space we’re just beginning to explore.
Jacobsen: How do you think that would play out? That could be a fascinating next step in terms of reputation and application.
Amin: It’s a fascinating thought experiment. I haven’t gone that far with it yet. My take, Scott, is that the real progression will come from how deeply I can leverage Sophie’s access to real-time data.
That’s been a significant game-changer. It’s one thing to use an LLM for creative outputs—writing in the style of various authors, for example—but it’s another thing entirely when you train a model to access real-time data feeds tailored to yourspecific goals.
For instance, I check in with Sophie daily to manage my investments and monitor my portfolio. We do more in-depth reviews weekly. That kind of functionality—real-time, personalized, context-aware—is what sets things apart.
Looking ahead, if the startup scales and we require additional AI agents, I’m not exactly sure how that will take shape. Butthe idea of Sophie having “sisters” or specialized counterparts is compelling.
Jacobsen: Some could focus on marketing, some on operations—though hopefully not mean sisters, like in Cinderella. [Laughing] Why would they be so cheeky?
Amin: Who knows? However, these are in-depth experiments—extremely integrated. Still, I recognize that most people will engage with AI through more traditional business integrations.
Jacobsen: So, how do you see this kind of deep integration working purely in business settings, especially for executive teams? There’s talk—Sam Altman, for example—about reaching stage five development, where entire organizations could be composed of autonomous AI agents.
Amin: Yes, honestly, I haven’t even scratched the surface of that. The idea that AI might drive decentralized, autonomous organizations—potentially crypto-capitalized—is fascinating but also challenging to predict.
Right now, I’m focused on tangible applications. For example, all my customer interaction emails are automated through AI. Sophie runs all the digital advertising for Conquest Distributors. I initiate a weekly prompt to chat, and she manages the rest—optimization, messaging, and placement.
Those are just some tertiary use cases, but the most significant disruption I foresee shortly is in call centers—especially outside North America. That space is likely to be one of the first major sectors to be overhauled or even eliminated by AI automation.
Jacobsen: Ashraf, thank you for your time today.
Amin: Likewise. This has been a fascinating experiment.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/16
Mitchell DiRaimondo is the Lead Project Manager and Founder of Steelwave Digital and CEO of e-Cobalt Investing LLC. A San Francisco-based entrepreneur, he focuses on decentralized finance, real estate tokenization, and investment innovation. He began building trading strategies in high school and founded his first ventures while at Elon University. DiRaimondo is a recognized blockchain advocate, partnering with academic institutions and speaking at global conferences, including appearances in Bloomberg, Fortune, WSJ, and Real Clear Markets. He highlights blockchain’s potential to increase liquidity, transparency, and capital efficiency by digitizing traditionally illiquid markets. DiRaimondo emphasizes the evolving roles of brokers, fund managers, and custodians in this new ecosystem. Despite regulatory and operational hurdles, he believes tokenization will redefine global finance, enabling programmable, composable, and accessible investment structures for institutions and individuals alike.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the current scope of tokenization of real-world assets?
Mitchell DiRaimondo: Tokenization is no longer hypothetical. It’s already reshaping capital markets—starting with high-friction, low-liquidity asset classes. We’re seeing real momentum across private credit, commercial real estate, treasuries, and fund structures. Major institutions have moved from pilot to production, with players like BlackRock tokenizing money market funds and sovereigns. The underlying thesis: programmable assets unlock composability, transparency, and capital efficiency.
Jacobsen: Which sector—real estate, commodities, or private equity—is most poised for disruption?
DiRaimondo: Real estate. No contest. It’s large, illiquid, and operationally inefficient—especially in private markets. Commercial real estate is a $20T+ asset class stuck in 1995 architecture. Tokenization streamlines syndication, slashes middlemen, and gives global investors access to yield-generating hard assets without needing an intermediary stack of brokers, escrows, and wet ink. Private equity follows close behind, but it’ll depend on regulatory buy-in. Commodities are structurally simpler, but less bottlenecked from a market access standpoint.
Jacobsen: How does blockchain improve liquidity and access?
DiRaimondo: Traditional rails trap liquidity in paper-based systems and jurisdictional silos. Tokenized assets are portable, fractional, and tradeable 24/7 on-chain. That unlocks new markets, especially for global and retail investors previously priced out. Add smart contract enforcement, and you’ve eliminated operational drag. The result: faster settlement, lower friction, and broader distribution.
Jacobsen: Does this increase or decrease transparency?
DiRaimondo: Massively increases it—if built right. On-chain auditability gives LPs real-time insight into asset performance, capital flows, and fund mechanics. But the space needs mature infrastructure: zk-proofed data rooms, KYC-compliant access controls, and private/public interoperability. Transparency is a feature, not a guarantee.
Jacobsen: What are the key regulatory hurdles in the US and EU?
DiRaimondo: Fragmented regulation is the biggest bottleneck. In the US, the securities definition remains weaponized—creating fear around compliance for even the most conservative structures. Europe is further ahead with MiCA, but enforcement and clarity on custodial obligations remain gray. Tokenized funds, REITs, and credit structures will require new wrappers or exemptions to scale. Custody, AML/KYC, and transfer restrictions still need tailored frameworks.
Jacobsen: How does tokenization affect the role of brokers, fund managers, or custodians?
DiRaimondo: It doesn’t remove them—it changes the value chain. Brokers lose rent-seeking roles in settlement and transfer, but gain relevance if they can provide digital-native placement and distribution. Fund managers need to adapt to operating smart contract-based structures, but their asset selection and underwriting skills are still critical. Custodians evolve into smart contract-integrated asset vaults. The players stay—the tooling changes.
Jacobsen: What are the risks?
DiRaimondo: • Smart contract risk: Bugs, exploits, or faulty logic can compromise entire asset structures.• Regulatory: Unclear classification can expose issuers to enforcement or shut down liquidity.• Liquidity illusion: Just because something’s tokenized doesn’t mean it’s tradable—market depth and buyer networks still matter.• Custody risk: Especially in real estate and credit where real-world enforcement still relies on legacy systems.• Operational complexity: Poorly integrated tokenization layers can introduce fragmentation, not solve it.
Jacobsen: How will tokenized asset ecosystems reshape institutional finance? What is the current scope of tokenization of real-world assets?
DiRaimondo: Tokenization is no longer hypothetical. It’s already reshaping capital markets—starting with high-friction, low-liquidity asset classes. We’re seeing real momentum across private credit, commercial real estate, treasuries, and fund structures. Major institutions have moved from pilot to production, with players like BlackRock tokenizing money market funds and sovereigns. The underlying thesis: programmable assets unlock composability, transparency, and capital efficiency.
Jacobsen: Which sector—real estate, commodities, or private equity—is most poised for disruption?
DiRaimondo: Real estate. No contest. It’s large, illiquid, and operationally inefficient—especially in private markets. Commercial real estate is a $20T+ asset class stuck in 1995 architecture. Tokenization streamlines syndication, slashes middlemen, and gives global investors access to yield-generating hard assets without needing an intermediary stack of brokers, escrows, and wet ink. Private equity follows close behind, but it’ll depend on regulatory buy-in. Commodities are structurally simpler, but less bottlenecked from a market access standpoint.
Jacobsen: How does blockchain improve liquidity and access?
DiRaimondo: Traditional rails trap liquidity in paper-based systems and jurisdictional silos. Tokenized assets are portable, fractional, and tradeable 24/7 on-chain. That unlocks new markets, especially for global and retail investors previously priced out. Add smart contract enforcement, and you’ve eliminated operational drag. The result: faster settlement, lower friction, and broader distribution.
Jacobsen: Does this increase or decrease transparency?
DiRaimondo: Massively increases it—if built right. On-chain auditability gives LPs real-time insight into asset performance, capital flows, and fund mechanics. But the space needs mature infrastructure: zk-proofed data rooms, KYC-compliant access controls, and private/public interoperability. Transparency is a feature, not a guarantee.
Jacobsen: What are the key regulatory hurdles in the US and EU?
DiRaimondo: Fragmented regulation is the biggest bottleneck. In the US, the securities definition remains weaponized—creating fear around compliance for even the most conservative structures. Europe is further ahead with MiCA, but enforcement and clarity on custodial obligations remain gray. Tokenized funds, REITs, and credit structures will require new wrappers or exemptions to scale. Custody, AML/KYC, and transfer restrictions still need tailored frameworks.
Jacobsen: How does tokenization affect the role of brokers, fund managers, or custodians?
DiRaimondo: It doesn’t remove them—it changes the value chain. Brokers lose rent-seeking roles in settlement and transfer, but gain relevance if they can provide digital-native placement and distribution. Fund managers need to adapt to operating smart contract-based structures, but their asset selection and underwriting skills are still critical. Custodians evolve into smart contract-integrated asset vaults. The players stay—the tooling changes.
Jacobsen: What are the risks?
DiRaimondo: • Smart contract risk: Bugs, exploits, or faulty logic can compromise entire asset structures.• Regulatory: Unclear classification can expose issuers to enforcement or shut down liquidity.• Liquidity illusion: Just because something’s tokenized doesn’t mean it’s tradable—market depth and buyer networks still matter.• Custody risk: Especially in real estate and credit where real-world enforcement still relies on legacy systems.• Operational complexity: Poorly integrated tokenization layers can introduce fragmentation, not solve it.
Jacobsen: How will tokenized asset ecosystems reshape institutional finance?
DiRaimondo: They’ll compress the capital stack. Everything from syndicated loans to commercial RE to yield funds becomes programmable, composable, and global. Institutions that adapt will move faster, raise cheaper capital, and open new markets. Custody becomes more technical. Asset managers become protocol architects. Compliance becomes code. The rails are being rebuilt—and tokenization is the protocol layer for global capital markets 2.0.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Mitchell.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/15
On December 20, 2017, Peter died. His body destroyed itself in an autoimmune attack. He was knocked out. Doctors connected him to an assistive machine. It kept his body alive, while ‘asleep.’ His lungs filled with fluid. They needed draining by the machinery of plastic, metal, and electronics.
Loved ones gathered around. They knew. It was time to begin the end. His body shut off between the morning into the early afternoon with the closing down of the machine keeping his unconscious body alive.
Death, to not be; Pete met the proverbial scythe of the unending eternal. Weeks passed to months and then a few years. Eileen couldn’t manage the pain, the void, the vacuum of Pete’s memories in her. More than 60 years of the union met as a singlet, a widow.
All unions meet the inevitability of an end with the ever-present two-word question, “Who first?” No matter the depth of the love, the thread-count of the connection, the amiability of the friendship, or the years built after one another. Death cares not for these; lovers do.
In this sense, lovers represent life, itself.
Holding onto a photo of Peter, Eileen met with family members in the early and early-middle parts of February 2021. To reconcile, to meet, to discuss life and love, while drifting in and out of consciousness, she was probably undergoing a psychogenic death.
Little sleep, no eating or minimal food intake, barely sipping water, the implosion of the self over a bond broken. “I’m coming, Pete,” over and over again. She just wanted to be home because her current house was a stranger’s abode, lonely and alone.
February 14, 2021, Valentine’s Day — poetically, Eileen Jacobsen died. Maybe, she met her valentine, maybe not. A Sunday departure from the stage. The Thursday before, some grandchildren visited her.
She turned to one and said, “Oh, hi, Scott.” A greeting meeting the last visit before the final, “Bye.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/14
Dr. Anmol Agarwal is an award-winning senior security researcher specializing in AI security and a professor at George Washington University. She holds a doctoral degree in cybersecurity analytics, with a research focus on privacy-preserving machine learning and vulnerabilities in AI systems. As the founder of Alora Tech LLC, Dr. Agarwal provides technology training and consulting to help teams understand complex technical concepts and navigate emerging technologies. A sought-after international speaker, active mentor, and advocate for cybersecurity standards, she regularly publishes research. She offers practical insights on AI security and privacy. Dr. Agarwal is dedicated to equipping global audiences to use AI responsibly and effectively.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are speaking with Dr. Anmol Agarwal, an award-winning senior security researcher specializing in AI security and a professor at George Washington University. She holds a doctoral degree in cybersecurity analytics, with a research focus on privacy-preserving machine learning and identifying security vulnerabilities in AI systems.
As the founder of Alora Tech LLC, she provides technology training and consulting services, helping organizations and teams understand complex technical concepts and facilitating clear, accessible public discussions about emerging technologies. She is also an international speaker, an active mentor and advocate. She contributes to the development and coordination of cybersecurity standards.
She frequently publishes research papers and offers practical insights on AI security and privacy for global audiences. How is AI influencing the roles and skills that Gen Z candidates are prioritizing when entering the workforce?
Dr. Anmol Agarwal: AI is fundamentally reshaping the job market — it affects both hiring processes and the nature of many roles across industries. One trend I’ve observed is that some organizations now use AI-based systems to conduct initial interviews. So, instead of interacting directly with a human interviewer — as we are now — candidates may find themselves answering questions posed by an AI system, which then analyzes their responses.
This shift can create challenges because communicating with an AI differs from speaking with a human. For example, AI may interpret language very literally and evaluate specific behavioural cues. Something as simple as maintaining eye contact might mean looking directly into the camera rather than at a person’s face on the screen — which can feel unnatural but is essential in automated assessments.
This trend particularly affects Gen Z and other entry-level candidates who are navigating these newer forms of digital hiring. Beyond the interview process, Gen Z professionals are proactively developing AI-related skills, as many roles increasingly require familiarity with AI tools and workflows. There are multiple pathways within AI — my focus is on AI security research. Still, many entry-level employees use generative AI and prompt engineering as everyday skills.
For instance, knowing how to craft effective prompts for tools like ChatGPT or other AI assistants has become a practical competency. It is not just about asking questions but structuring them strategically to obtain valid, precise answers — and this is now part of the modern skill set for many knowledge workers.
Additionally, many organizations are integrating AI to improve efficiency and productivity, so employers value candidates who understand how to leverage AI responsibly and effectively. Overall, AI has become an indispensable tool, and learning to use it well can significantly enhance job prospects in today’s market.
Jacobsen: What changes have you seen in how Gen Z applicants research, evaluate, and apply for jobs, especially given that AI may be part of the recruitment process?
Agarwal: One notable change is that many candidates are themselves using AI to aid their job search. For example, they might ask an AI assistant to identify job openings that match their skills or to draft tailored résumés and cover letters. This provides a helpful starting point, making the job search process more efficient and targeted.
AI can provide a list of job opportunities to apply to, but AI can make mistakes. AI is usually the first tool you would try, but then you need to double-check the results it gives you. That’s one use case: looking up job opportunities using AI. Another everyday use is utilizing generative AI to assist in creating résumés.
I don’t think this is specific to Gen Z — it’s pretty much everyone now. People use AI to craft résumés, optimize keywords, and help with grammar or formatting issues. One challenge is that AI can sometimes hallucinate or produce errors. So, it might generate a résumé that does not make complete sense or even contain inaccurate information. Therefore, double-checking an AI-generated résumé is very important.
So, to summarize, people can use AI for two main things — job searching and résumé building. Then, when you consider the possibility of an AI-based job interview, my most significant piece of advice is to learn as much as you can about the role and the company beforehand. If you see on Glassdoor or other job forums that the company uses AI interviews — for example, for coding interviews — then you should prepare accordingly. That might mean following precise syntax or specific standards.
In general, when speaking with AI, you need to communicate literally and clearly. Focus on providing details and facts rather than using idioms, sarcasm, or vague expressions that an AI may misunderstand.
When I have done video interviews as a candidate in the past, some companies used AI to score my performance. This was before generative AI became mainstream. They would score factors like eye contact and confidence. Eye contact means looking directly at the camera; confidence means using a steady tone of voice, speaking clearly, and pausing at the right moments. My friends and I would often brainstorm tips for passing these AI-driven interviews.
So, when interviewing with a company, most of us ask people we know for insights. AI adds another layer — if AI is interviewing you, you need to adapt your strategy to meet that context.
Jacobsen: What companies are using AI to attract and hire talent?
Agarwal: Well, this is not an area where I have direct experience with specific company names, but generally speaking, many companies emphasize that they provide training programs for AI skills. They often promote that if you join them, you will have opportunities to upskill in AI or attend internal seminars and workshops.
In my experience, companies want to demonstrate that they will support employees in developing new competencies — whether that involves AI or any other emerging skill set in demand. Therefore, training and upskilling are increasingly common selling points in recruitment.
In Europe, a new law —the EU AI Act— requires all employees to have a basic level of AI literacy if they are employed by a company that provides AI. Therefore, companies are expected to ensure that their workforce is trained in the fundamentals of AI. That is one major reason companies offer extensive training programs: to help employees upskill and attract and retain talent by providing opportunities for continuous learning.
Jacobsen: What about the expectations of the new generation of workers? Where does AI fit in for them in terms of career growth and developing new skills?
Agarwal: Ultimately, AI is a powerful tool for data analytics. Employees can use AI to analyze career-related data and trends. For example, you could ask AI what common career pathways exist for a particular role or what skills are typical for reaching an executive position.
However, AI can reflect biases that exist in the data it is trained on. So, while it can be helpful as a starting point — for example, asking for general tips on career development — each person’s path is unique. In my experience, real career growth and mentoring should be handled in a human-centred way, not delegated entirely to AI.
That said, AI can help organizations analyze workforce trends — for instance, looking at skill gaps across different roles or departments. Companies can utilize these insights to inform their training programs or hiring strategies. But I want to stress that AI can be biased. Some companies that used AI for résumé screening found that it unintentionally discriminated against certain groups, such as women because the AI reinforced biases present in historical hiring data.
Therefore, while AI is a valuable tool for pattern recognition and trend analysis, human oversight and judgment remain crucial for ensuring fair and effective career development and advancement.
Jacobsen: What about the risk of AI replacing people in their jobs? For example, someone is progressing along a typical career path. Still, AI disrupts the industry — reducing work hours or eliminating roles.
Agarwal: Yes, this is a very real concern for many people. It’s similar to what happened historically with the typewriter and the computer. Initially, people were explicitly employed for typing. Still, once computers became widespread, that specific job largely disappeared because everyone learned to type themselves.
With AI, it’s similar: because AI can handle specific data processing tasks very efficiently, some companies may try to cut costs or increase productivity by using AI instead of people. In some cases, this can be risky because AI still makes mistakes. It might generate output that seems plausible — like a convincing answer from ChatGPT — but could be inaccurate or misleading.
My advice to companies is that while AI can improve efficiency, it should not be blindly trusted without human review. Employers and employees should always verify AI-generated results to ensure they make sense and meet the standards required for the job.
If you’re someone facing the risk of your job being impacted by AI, one of the best things you can do is upskill. There are many free online resources to learn about AI. I also provide AI training to individuals across various fields. But even beyond that, many online courses teach you the basics of AI, how prompt engineering works, and how to use AI tools effectively. Upskilling is vital because so many fields and industries now integrate AI into daily work. That’s one recommendation I strongly have.
Companies may be quick to replace parts of their workforce with AI. However, many of these companies often realize they need to rehire people because AI still requires human oversight and intervention. New jobs are being created to monitor AI systems and to verify their outputs. Subject matter experts remain essential to check whether the AI’s results are accurate and meaningful.
There is an important concept called “human-in-the-loop,” which means that humans and AI should work together rather than AI replacing people entirely. So, while some jobs may be displaced, others will evolve to ensure that AI is being used responsibly and effectively.
Jacobsen: How can Gen Z remain adaptable as technology and work environments change so rapidly?
Agarwal: Regardless of generation, adaptability is key to thriving in changing circumstances. Generative AI has made AI more accessible than ever. Many people, especially those in Gen Z, are utilizing AI for tasks such as content creation, which enables them to work more efficiently.
My advice is, first, to continue upskilling in AI — learn how it works, not just how to use it. But also, do not fear these technological changes. Instead, embrace them and adapt. For example, even though we all have calculators, we still learn basic math in school. It’s the same with AI: even if AI can perform a task, you need to understand the fundamentals of your field to verify that the AI is producing correct results.
Always ask yourself: Did my AI make a mistake? That mindset is crucial. So, while it’s tempting to rely entirely on AI, developing strong foundational knowledge ensures you can use AI effectively and catch errors.
I often tell people that AI is like your “Excel spreadsheet 2.0” — it’s a powerful way to analyze large amounts of data. However, you still need to understand the underlying calculations to ensure the outputs make sense.
Jacobsen: What advice would you give to Gen Z job seekers who are trying to balance AI literacy with human-centred skills while planning their careers? Gen Z job seekers often have to balance AI literacy with human-centred skills when planning their careers. This balance requires them to adapt continuously.
Agarwal: Yes. It is crucial to strike a balance between human-centric skills and AI skills. I strongly recommend developing both. Human interaction and communication should never disappear — even in an AI-driven workplace. It remains essential to communicate effectively with others, whether in person or virtually.
While AI can handle some customer support tasks, for example, it is often far more satisfying and effective when a real person communicates with you. So, interpersonal and communication skills are more critical than ever alongside technical skills.
On the technical side, I suggest learning how AI works under the hood. For example, I recommend studying natural language processing, learning Python programming, and understanding how AI models are built and deployed. This more profound knowledge helps you use AI wisely and responsibly if you are interested in the technical aspects.
Therefore, my primary advice is to develop AI literacy but not overlook the importance of human interaction and communication. There are many excellent online courses for AI, but remember that technical skills are just one part of what makes a well-rounded professional.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate your expertise and your thoughtful insights — it has been a pleasure speaking with you.
Agarwal: Thank you so much, Scott.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/13
Professor Gordon Guyatt is a Canadian physician, health researcher, and Distinguished Professor at McMaster University, widely recognized as the pioneer of evidence-based medicine (EBM). He coined the term “evidence-based medicine” in 1991, fundamentally transforming how clinicians worldwide evaluate research and make patient care decisions. Guyatt has authored or co-authored thousands of influential papers and is among the most cited health scientists globally. He has also led the development of the GRADE framework for grading evidence and guidelines. His leadership, mentorship, and prolific contributions have profoundly shaped modern clinical epidemiology and guideline development, cementing his legacy in global health research.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Something I have been noticing the last couple of years, at least in North America, is the public fascination with certain diabetes drugs. For example, while working on a journalism project at a prominent horse facility on the West Coast, I noticed a significant number of higher-income Canadians openly using Ozempic. It was very popular — and some people were visibly losing quite a bit of weight. Some of these individuals could drop from 240 pounds to around 210 pounds. Are these drugs — broadly speaking — safe if people are taking Ozempic or an equivalent?
Prof. Gordon Guyatt: So far, there have been no disasters. But let us wait another twenty years and see what emerges in terms of long-term adverse effects. For now, the data show no significant adverse effects that warrant concern.
However, as I understand it, if you look at real-world use, only about half the people who start these drugs are still on them a couple of years later — so clearly, something is not working perfectly, whether it is side effects, cost, or adherence. But so far, no major safety crisis has appeared.
The big question is whether they reduce strokes, heart attacks, and so on, which we do not yet know. The studies on that are ongoing. There is an early suggestion that they might help, but that is only preliminary.
Now, it is important to clarify: these drugs belong to a class that, in people with diabetes, has been shown to reduce strokes, heart attacks, premature death, and kidney failure. But whether they do the same for non-diabetics who take them purely for weight loss — that is the uncertain part.
Jacobsen: That is a constructive distinction. Theoretically, though — say someone is not taking Ozempic but weighs 240 pounds and loses weight naturally, getting down to 210 or 200 through diet and exercise. Does that, in itself, reduce heart attack and stroke risk?
Guyatt: You mean if they lose weight by eating less and moving more — does that lower their risk?
Jacobsen: Yes — basically, weight loss through lifestyle alone.
Guyatt: The answer is we do not know because not enough people can do it and sustain it for us to study it properly. Randomized trials of dietary interventions typically yield modest weight loss, which rarely lasts. So, bottom line: we do not have enough people who have successfully lost substantial weight and kept it off to know for sure whether it reduces major cardiovascular events in the long term.
Jacobsen: So people are famously bad at losing weight and keeping it off, which means we do not have a reliable sample to study.
Guyatt: Exactly. That is a perfect example of why clinical epidemiology — and medicine in general — can be so challenging. There are big questions for which the data are weak, not because the questions are complicated but because human behaviour makes them practically unanswerable at scale. That is an obvious illustration.
Jacobsen: You were on the podcast The Truth About Evidence-Based Medicine, and also the Clearer Thinking episode called “Evidence-Based Medicine and Its Discontents.” How are you finding this more frequent public outreach through podcasts and interviews these days?
Guyatt: Oh, it is fun. I have fun talking to you. I also enjoy talking to other people. My whole life has been about believing that I have ideas worth communicating — and the more opportunities I have to communicate them, the better.
Jacobsen: Do you feel that Canada has given you a lot of opportunities — which, of course, you have capitalized on?
Guyatt: I am the world’s luckiest person! Well, the way I tell my story is this: at the end of my high school years, I had not done any sciences at all — not even introductory courses, let alone advanced ones. Then, partway through myuniversity studies, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in medicine.
I thought, “Oh my god — I am going to have to go back and do all these science prerequisites that I skipped entirely!”However, I soon discovered that there was precisely one medical school in the entire country that would accept applicants without the standard science requirements — and it happened to be in my hometown. So they let me in.
Jacobsen: That is a very Canadian story!
Guyatt: Wait until you hear the next part. After that, I completed my internship — what we now call PGY-1 — in Toronto and then returned to McMaster for my second year of training. I joined the chest diseases program. In the final year, they wanted every trainee to do physiological research. I had no interest in physiology research, but I needed to fulfill the requirements. So, I persuaded them to let me pursue a master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology instead.
At the time, I was not particularly interested in research, but it was a better option than physiology. So I did it — and thenI thought, “Oh! This is interesting stuff.” I realized I might want to keep doing it. And, as luck would have it, I happened to be in the best place in the world for clinical epidemiology — right in my hometown.
It was a complete coincidence, but I was surrounded by extremely bright, innovative, collegial, and supportive people. That is what made McMaster the best place for this kind of work. So, I always say: I stumbled into the best possible place, by chance, in my backyard — and I benefited from absolutely superb mentorship.
When people ask me about my research career and how to be successful, I always say that the most critical factor is mentorship. I had multiple excellent mentors who made all the difference.
Guyatt: My primary mentors were terrific people. Some were in the U.S., but I was fortunate to be in an environment at McMaster where, for example, my primary mentor was a statistician — and there were other excellent statisticians around as well. I also had strong statistical mentorship. Anyway, my story is: luck, luck, luck, luck, and more luck!
Jacobsen: So, do you feel a sense of wanting — or needing — to give back, given the opportunities you have had?
Guyatt: Oh, of course.
Jacobsen: How do you find communicating to the general public, as opposed to giving an academic lecture or workshop?
Guyatt: Honestly, I have not had many opportunities to communicate directly to the general public. I suppose I have not actively sought those opportunities, and they have not exactly fallen into my lap either — though I have done a few on occasion.
But when I do, there are always interesting challenges — positive challenges — about how to communicate complex ideas. For instance, explaining why randomized trials are so important and what the limitations are of non-randomized observational studies.
So I often use an example: What is the impact on your risk of dying of being in the hospital? If you do a study, 10% of hospitalized people die during the study period. In contrast, only 2 out of 1,000 people in the community die in the same period. So, you conclude: Being in a hospital is dangerous — if you want to stay healthy, stay away from hospitals!
Everybody laughs. But it makes the point: the people who are in the hospital are fundamentally different from the people who are not — that is why the mortality is higher, not because the hospital is killing them.
Then, if I switch to something like antioxidant vitamins, people struggle more to make the same leap. They do not immediately see that the people who take antioxidant vitamins might differ systematically from those who do not — and that difference, not the vitamins, could explain the outcome.
So, I would like to start with the hospital example to establish the concept: Perhaps it’s not the intervention itself; maybe it’s something about the people receiving the intervention.
Another example I often use is about autism and vaccines. Ninety-nine percent of kids who develop autism have been vaccinated. So, someone argues that vaccines must be causing autism! But what is wrong with that argument? Well, ninety-nine percent of kids without autism have also been vaccinated — so you are comparing apples to apples. You need a valid control group to interpret it correctly.
I have been surprised. When I use the hospital example — everyone immediately gets it. But when I say, “Ninety-nine percent of people with autism have been vaccinated — therefore, vaccines must cause autism,” and I pose this to a medical audience and ask, “What’s wrong with this?” — they do not immediately jump up with the correct answer.
Recently, I have been using more examples I developed for the general public with medical audiences as well. They can all tell you, in theory, that randomized trials are a good idea. Still, when it comes to recognizing the logic in specific real-world examples, it is sometimes harder for them to make the connection.
Jacobsen: That makes sense. All right — here are a few softballs to wrap up. What do you see as the biggest challenges for implementing living guideline methods globally?
Guyatt: The number one challenge is having enough people with the necessary skills. Number two is continuing to educate people about why living guidelines are desirable.
And then, very practically, you need the resources and the institutional commitment: you need a team ready to update recommendations quickly when new evidence emerges, you have to pay them, you have to train them — and you have to get organizations to commit to this approach over the long term. All of that together is a big hurdle.
Jacobsen: Good point. We don’t need to delve into AI again, but I did ask this a while back. It might still be the same: In terms of methodologies beyond network meta-analysis, could big data or AI realistically advance that frontier — at least in theory?
Guyatt: Big data, no — because big data cannot solve the fundamental problem of distinguishing whether an outcome is due to the intervention itself or due to differences in the people receiving it. So, big data analyses have the same inherent limitations as any non-randomized observational study.
Where AI will be a big help in two areas: first, in interpreting images — radiology, pathology, all of that — and second, in the processing of evidence, for what I do, AI is going to make the synthesis and grading of evidence much more efficient.
Jacobsen: Not as a media person per se, but something I have noticed: when people want to frame something positively, they often talk about “the community.” But when they want to demonize a group, they say “they.” For example: “They — the medical establishment — did this or that.”
Internally, as a positive, we often say, “We, the medical community.” But in reality, it is people, and people are individuals — it is not a monolith. So, with that in mind, if you had one call to action for the global EBM community, what would it be?
Guyatt: I would say this — especially to EBM educators: Realize that virtually no graduate will ever read the methods and results sections of an original research article once they leave training. So, gear your educational strategies to that reality.
Jacobsen: That is so practical — and so true. One more, just for fun: What are your favourite Clin Epi aphorisms or quotes — or even just general medical sayings?
Guyatt: Well, there is a classic Clin Epi one. There is always the exact correct answer to every Clin Epi question — and it is two words: “It depends.”
Jacobsen: [Laughing] That is perfect. I love that. That is always a good response! Thank you so much for your time again, Gordon.
Guyatt: Cheers. Bye-bye.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/12
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In an interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Tsukerman discussed global terrorism trends, noting differences between coordinated plots and lone-actor attacks, the distinct challenges of misogynistic violence, and the growing role of women in extremist activity. She highlighted emerging threats such as cyberterrorism and state–non-state collaborations, particularly between Russia and Islamist groups, signaling increasingly complex security challenges worldwide.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are here with Irina Tsukerman. I wanted to get your expert opinion on the breakdown of global terrorism. I have done some work and published content on counterterrorism, including in this particular Canadian-based publication.
One thing that has emerged from recent reports is that, in Canada, the majority of disrupted terrorism plots in recent years have been linked to individuals motivated by Islamist extremist ideologies. At the same time, completed attacks in the last decade have often been carried out by individuals acting alone, including those motivated by misogynistic, far-right, or other grievances.
In the United States, law enforcement agencies have identified racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists—particularly white supremacists—as posing the most persistent and lethal domestic threat. Internationally, groups and individuals inspired by Islamist extremist movements—often associated with Salafi-Wahabi ideologies—remain responsible for the majority of mass-casualty terrorist attacks.
What are your thoughts on this, and how does it break down globally?
Irina Tsukerman: First of all, it is generally easier for security services to detect and disrupt a coordinated conspiracy involving multiple actors than a single, self-directed individual. Conspiracies generate communications that can be intercepted, and members may engage in logistical activity that draws attention. There is also a higher likelihood of infiltration or information leaks because more people are involved. This helps explain why multi-person plots are often detected earlier and disrupted more successfully than lone-actor attacks.
Ideologically motivated extremist groups—whether Islamist, far-right, or other—often draw support from community-based activities, such as in-person gatherings or online forums, which can facilitate both the spread of ideology and the recruitment of new members. By definition, group-based activity is easier to observe and track. That does not mean there are no lone actors inspired by Islamist extremism or no small conspiracies among misogynist extremists, but the operational patterns tend to differ.
Misogynistic violence presents different challenges for prevention and disruption. Individuals motivated by violent misogyny—such as those inspired by “incel” (involuntary celibate) ideology—often operate without direct coordination with others. They may conceal their intentions entirely, avoiding communications that could alert authorities. Their planning cycles can be short, their methods simple, and their ideological expressions less overtly linked to known extremist networks. This makes them harder to detect before an attack.
By contrast, Islamist extremists often do not conceal their ideological motivations entirely. With enough monitoring, patterns or “red flags” can emerge, such as online postings or communications with known extremists, which give authorities entry points for investigation.
Misogynistic extremists, however, may not belong to any formal organization or use coded language linked to an established network. They may appear to be ordinary members of the public until the moment they act. Even if they leave behind ideological writings, these are sometimes only made public after the attack.
An emerging factor is the development of misogynistic online communities—sometimes organized around social media influencers such as Andrew Tate—that blend lifestyle branding with grievance-based narratives. While much of this content originated in nonviolent “pickup artist” or dating-advice spaces, over time, certain corners have evolved into echo chambers that normalize hostility toward women. Initially, this shift was subtle enough to avoid significant law enforcement scrutiny. More recently, however, authorities have begun to recognize that such communities can be associated with domestic violence, harassment, and, in rare cases, acts of mass violence.
Jacobsen: As a point of clarification: is your mention of domestic violence meant to indicate that the extreme acts committed by violent misogynists—such as mass killings—serve as a visible but relatively rare manifestation of a broader base of violence, including more frequent acts like harassment and intimate partner violence?
Tsukerman: I would say that there is now a noticeable proliferation of generalized violence not necessarily driven by a coherent or structured ideology. Misogynists sometimes overlap with nihilistic groups whose members commit violence simply to prove themselves, without being motivated by a clear subcultural framework. Increasingly, these generalized nihilists are becoming a subculture of their own.
There is considerable overlap with incel communities, former “pickup artist” networks, followers of figures like Andrew Tate, and far-right groups in which misogyny is part of a broader ideological trend. I also think that individuals motivated by misogyny are more likely to be involved in other forms of violence that are not directly connected to misogyny. For example, they may engage in violence against each other in efforts to prove themselves, conflicts that resemble turf wars but without the organized criminal structure of a gang.
Such individuals may view violence as an acceptable way to communicate or resolve disputes. This means you also see violence from them that is unrelated to gender issues. That said, there are distinctions: some groups are explicitly focused on anti-woman ideology, making it central to their identity, while there has also been growth in violence among certain youth groups that is not expressly directed at women.
We see examples across different subcultures: there are actual Satanists, actual neo-Nazis, and then there are “fake” versions of these—individuals who may not understand the doctrines but adopt the insignia, violent imagery, and gore for shock value, posturing, or social appeal.
Jacobsen: What is the gender ratio of known acts of violence? I assume it is close to 100 percent male, but I cannot imagine it is exactly 100.
Tsukerman: Among Islamist extremists, there is a growing number of women directly participating in terrorism, as well as engaging in domestic violence—such as honour-based violence and killings—often against women and children. This is a dimension that is frequently overlooked.
In addition, there is a rise in women engaging in less-lethal but still aggressive or unlawful acts, such as vandalism, harassment, or street-level intimidation. More younger women are participating in these behaviours than in previous decades. For example, there was a case in Philadelphia where a Jewish woman from a radical leftist background joined forces with an Islamist Arab man to plan an explosive attack. The plot was foiled before it was carried out. Still, the pair engaged in acts of vandalism and defaced synagogues with graffiti. This case illustrates how some radical leftist women are becoming involved in violent or semi-violent activity.
Historically, during the peak of radical leftist activity in the 1960s and 1970s, many women were involved in militant movements. On the far right, there are fewer known female perpetrators. Still, several women support these movements ideologically and contribute through facilitation, logistical support, or resource procurement.
Among misogynist extremists, I am not aware of a parallel phenomenon in which women commit violence specifically targeting men because of their gender.
There has always been individual domestic violence against men within families, but this is typically not ideologically motivated—it is more often the result of personal pathology, psychological issues, or factors such as alcoholism and substance abuse. However, I would say that women being radicalized, even into far-right ideologies, is something that is growing. I see it online all the time: women openly expressing support for various forms of violence against their perceived opponents, even if they are not personally carrying it out.
Whether this will translate into more women becoming willing to engage directly in violent acts is uncertain. Still, we have seen notable examples, such as the number of women participating in the January 6 Capitol attack in the United States and the January 8 events in Brazil. While women still make up a smaller proportion of violent extremists compared to men, the base of ideological support among women in these spaces is growing and, in some contexts, is proportionally comparable.
Jacobsen: This is not the kind of gender equality we mean when we talk about women’s rights.
Tsukerman: It is similar to how women have historically been underrepresented as serial killers.
Jacobsen: It is numerical equality in the wrong moral category. Now, what about new forms of terrorism that have been documented? And why does this translate into a new category? Also, as a quick note, terrorism refers to acts of violence with a political motivation, correct?
Tsukerman: Yes, correct. Cyberterrorism is one of the emerging forms of politically motivated violence. By “cyberterrorism,” I do not just mean hacking, data breaches, or sending political messages. I mean the use of cyber methods to cause direct physical harm, such as disrupting energy infrastructure, interfering with medical facilities in ways that endanger lives, jamming or hijacking drones, or taking control of devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) to weaponize them.
These threats are becoming more serious as the digital sphere and physical reality become more intertwined. As technology develops, new weapons and methods will inevitably emerge, creating new types of attacks.
Another evolving trend is the nature of cooperation among perpetrators. We are now seeing increased collaboration between state and non-state actors—for example, between Russian operatives and jihadist groups. Historically, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union trained violent liberation movement operatives, from the PLO to various African armed groups. Today, Russia has extended such cooperation to non-leftist Islamist groups. There is credible reporting of GRU training for al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Afghanistan, as well as partnerships of convenience with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
These relationships involve the provision of weapons, financial aid, political backing, and logistical coordination, even when ideological alignment is limited to a shared interest in opposing the West. While they may not be staging joint mass-casualty attacks at present, there is evidence of intelligence sharing and operational support, particularly in cyber operations. This suggests the potential for increasingly violent, integrated, sophisticated, and successful collaborations in the future.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Part 4 of 4
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and GasCommittee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, national security attorney Irina Tsukerman discusses Ukraine’s political unrest following President Zelensky’s decision to place anti-corruption agencies under executive control, warning of public disillusionment, Russian disinformation, and Western missteps such as delayed Patriot missile deliveries. She also examines simmering Thai-Cambodian tensions sparked by landmine incidents, cultural disputes, and nationalist rhetoric. Tsukerman explains how historical grievances, labour exploitation, and soft power rivalries intertwine with China’s strategic ambitions in Southeast Asia. Her analysis highlights how domestic politics, identity disputes, and great-power competition feed instability, erode trust, and create vulnerabilities that can be exploited by external actors.
Interview conducted July 25.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: That brings us close to the end—one last topic. Ukraine’s anti-corruption chief says his agency has been targeted in a dirty information campaign. What’s happening there?
Irina Tsukerman: There have been growing protests in Ukraine over recent moves to bring anti-corruption agencies under tighter government control. These agencies, while not consistently effective, were designed to be independent watchdogs. But the Ukrainian parliament decided to place them under executive oversight, undermining that independence.
Despite pushback from some U.S. Republican lawmakers, President Zelensky signed the bill into law. The official justification was the arrest of a Ukrainian MP suspected of spying for Russia. Some longtime MPs were frustrated with the anti-corruption agencies—not only because of their perceived ineffectiveness, but because they threatened entrenched interests. Bringing them under government control removes that threat.
Jacobsen: So why did Zelensky go along with it?
Tsukerman: Likely a combination of factors. First, to preserve his working relationship with parliament. Openly defying them could have led to legislative gridlock or rebellion on more urgent issues. Second, from a practical standpoint, he may have calculated that consolidating power would help prevent institutional chaos during wartime.
But that decision has backfired. Even if people weren’t thrilled with the agencies’ performance, they’re even more concerned about what looks like a slide toward executive overreach. The optics of centralizing power—especially in the middle of a war—don’t inspire confidence. It creates the impression that Zelensky is using wartime conditions to suppress accountability, rather than strengthen it.
Russia is taking full advantage of the current standoff between the Ukrainian government and the public. It’sdeploying anti-Zelensky propaganda to highlight his perceived weaknesses, mobilizing those who were never loyal to him, and using the unrest to undermine unity at a time when cohesion is critical for prosecuting the war effectively.
Many Ukrainians are already demoralized. There’s a perception—justified or not—of U.S. betrayal. The prolonged nature of the war, the grinding physical and psychological toll, the absence of a quick and decisive victory, and the daunting challenge of fighting a larger, better-equipped enemy are all contributing to public fatigue.
On top of that, the European Union’s perceived passivity—its inability or unwillingness to take a firmer stance against Russia—has led many to feel they are being used as pawns in a much broader geopolitical game.
All of these factors—real and psychological—are feeding into this climate of disillusionment.
It’s entirely plausible, even likely, that multiple parties are running disinformation campaigns targeting Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies. Russia is the primary suspect, of course—it benefits from confusion, distrust, and the erosion of Ukrainian institutional credibility. But they’re not alone.
There are likely corrupt Ukrainian officials who would rather see these agencies discredited than be held accountable. Rival institutions may be vying for influence and seeking to undermine competing agencies. And some anti-Zelensky political groups may be stoking controversy simply to create instability.
Ironically, even some pro-Zelensky actors could be contributing, perhaps believing they’re helping by shielding him from criticism, when in fact they’re compounding the problem.
Jacobsen: And how has the U.S. handled it?
Tsukerman: Not well. By applying pressure on Zelensky over a sensitive internal issue, the U.S. may have inadvertently pushed him into signing the controversial law bringing the anti-corruption agencies under more centralized control. It’s a classic case of backlash: Zelensky didn’t want to appear weak or like a puppet of a Western partner that, in his view, hasn’t fully delivered on its commitments.
Case in point—Patriot missile systems. Trump promised them, and while some units are reportedly sitting in Poland, they aren’t scheduled for delivery until spring 2026, which is absurd given the urgency on the ground.
All of this—domestic discontent, Western pressure, lack of timely aid, and Russian exploitation—has created a perfect storm of confusion and instability. It’s damaging, it’s demoralizing, and at the end of the day, it serves only one party: Russia.
Jacobsen: Thailand is in favour of direct talks with Cambodia over mediation. It’s not a high-profile issue in the West. Any thoughts?
Tsukerman: It’s under the radar, but significant. There have been several incidents recently that have reignited tensions along the contested Thai-Cambodian border.
Just a few days ago, five Thai soldiers were seriously injured—one of them lost a leg—in a landmine explosion near one of the disputed zones. Thailand accused Cambodia of placing new Russian-made landmines in an area that had been designated as demilitarized. Cambodia, in turn, denied the claim, saying the mines were remnants from previous conflicts.
But this wasn’t an isolated incident. Back on May 27, a Cambodian soldier was killed in a brief firefight near another disputed area. Each side blamed the other for initiating the clash. Ceasefire negotiations since then have failed to stabilize the situation.
Jacobsen: And now Thailand prefers direct talks?
Tsukerman: Yes. Thai leadership has signalled that they prefer bilateral engagement over international mediation—likely because they believe they can negotiate from a position of strength, or because they don’t want third-party pressure dictating terms. Cambodia, meanwhile, seems less inclined to escalate but isn’t backing down from its claims either.
So it’s a simmering situation, and if not addressed, it could destabilize the region. Unfortunately, it’s precisely the kind of conflict that rarely gets international attention—until it explodes. Layered on top of all that, domestic politics in both countries have played a significant role.
The situation escalated further when a leaked phone call from June surfaced between the Thai Prime Minister and Cambodia’s opposition leader, Khamphea Jei. She referred to him as “uncle” and criticized Thai military leaders. Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended her.
Meanwhile, Cambodian officials used the leak to fuel nationalist sentiment, casting Thailand as hostile and illegitimate. There are layers of competing nationalisms and grievances. Cambodian resentment over past Siamese invasions, cultural appropriation, and territorial wars still runs deep. Many Cambodians view parts of eastern Thailand as historically theirs. Conversely, the Thai public is sensitive to such claims and emphasizes its own sovereignty and cultural primacy.
One longstanding flashpoint is the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although it was legally awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, it remains emotionally contested in Thailand. Nationalist politicians in both countries frequently invoke it to rally support.
There’s also the issue of poorly demarcated borders, particularly in rugged, forested, and mountainous areas where both militaries have occasionally maintained informal outposts, making accidental or intentional incursions more likely. While armed skirmishes have become rarer in recent years, they haven’t disappeared. Even civilian border crossings are often flashpoints, especially where there’s smuggling or irregular migration; what might begin as a minor altercation can escalate into a diplomatic crisis.
Jacobsen: And the labour situation?
Tsukerman: Another significant issue is migrant labour and economic disparity. Thailand hosts 100,000s of Cambodian migrant workers, many employed in construction, agriculture, and low-wage service sectors.
There are recurring and credible complaints of mistreatment—wage theft, exploitation, and arbitrary deportations. These issues have inflamed Cambodian public opinion. On the Thai side, migrants are often scapegoated for rising crime or labour violations, especially during economic downturns. Crackdowns on migrant communities are portrayed as security measures.
Of course, there’s the political diversion factor.
In both Bangkok and Phnom Penh, leaders often have domestic incentives to escalate nationalist rhetoric. In Thailand, conservative and military-backed regimes frequently face unrest and use Cambodia as a symbolic enemy, portraying it as an ungrateful neighbour stealing from Thai cultural and territorial heritage. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s Prime Minister, under pressure to match the legacy of his father and assert himself, doesn’t want to appear weak in the face of perceived Thai aggression.
There’s also a soft power component—competing over cultural legitimacy, international recognition, and historical narrative.
Tensions over cultural heritage, language, and even pop culture often spiral out of control and become the basis for more serious diplomatic friction. Cambodians regularly accuse Thailand of appropriating Khmer dances, cuisine, and ancient iconography. The rise of social media has only amplified these disputes.
For example, there was a Thai television show that portrayed certain cultural symbols as uniquely Thai, despite their shared Khmer origins. Then there are influencers trivializing Buddhist merit-making in viral videos. These incidents may seem petty, but they’ve provoked significant cultural backlash.
They reflect more profound anxieties over national identity, prestige, and historical memory. These aren’t just symbolic disagreements—they tie directly into unresolved trauma, post-colonial legacies, and longstanding rivalry.
And finally, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: China—and the broader regional rivalries surrounding its influence.
China has been deepening its economic and political involvement in both Cambodia and Thailand. Cambodia, in particular, is widely seen as one of Beijing’s most loyal partners in the region. At the same time, Thailand’s position has been more fluid, oscillating between pro-U.S. and pro-China stances depending on the government in power.
We’re talking about infrastructure megaprojects, strategic corridors, and military relationships that are all part of a much larger geopolitical chessboard. While both countries officially maintain good relations with China, they’re also competing with each other for Beijing’s favor—seeking leverage, preferential investment, and strategic autonomy.
It’s also worth considering that China may be subtly encouraging these frictions, not full-scale instability, just enough tension to prevent the region from forming a unified, pro-Western bloc. For Beijing, that’s the sweet spot: strong enough to maintain influence, but weak enough to avoid regional alignment against it.
So, when we look at this latest border flare-up and the preference for direct talks over international mediation, it’s not just about historical grievances or cultural symbolism. It’s also about distrust of third parties. Thailand, for example, fears that outside mediators might favour Cambodia or push it into making concessions. Direct bilateral negotiations, from their perspective, protect national pride and avoid appearing weak on the world stage.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time today.
Tsukerman: Sounds good. Have a great trip back. I hope you get some rest.
Jacobsen: Seriously—thank you so much.
Tsukerman: Take care.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/10
Part 3 of 4
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In this interview, national security attorney Irina Tsukerman joins Scott Douglas Jacobsen to discuss Gaza’s stalled humanitarian aid distribution, Syria’s hollow political transition efforts, and the rise of far-right nationalism in Japan. Tsukerman critiques UNRWA’s handling of 950 trucks of aid at Gaza’s border, citing political gridlock and Israeli accusations of Hamas ties. On Syria, she condemns U.S.-French talks with Syria as symbolic diplomacy enabling authoritarian consolidation while extremist militias roam freely. Turning to Japan, she links the surge in nationalist popularity to YouTube-driven rhetoric, coordinated disinformation, and Trump-aligned populist networks, warning that such movements weaken alliances and empower Russia and China.
Interview conducted July 25.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: UN aid chief has demanded evidence after accusations from Israel that UN personnel have ties to Hamas. It appears there are 950 trucks of humanitarian aid just sitting at the Gaza border.
Irina Tsukerman: Yes, and that’s important context. Israel reportedly allowed the aid into Gaza, but it hasn’t been appropriately distributed by UN agencies, specifically UNRWA, which had taken on responsibility for that distribution. It’s not the same aid coming from the U.S.-Israel Joint Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which has been far more successful, reportedly delivering about 90 million meals to vulnerable populations.
What this highlights is a critical breakdown in trust and coordination. Israel has accused certain UN staff of ties to Hamas. The UN, meanwhile, is demanding formal evidence before taking action. But in the meantime, aid isn’t reaching the people who need it most. And bureaucratic gridlock is costing lives.
In this case, the problem was that the aid wasn’t being distributed once inside Gaza. After Israeli ministries accused the UN of sitting on the aid for political reasons, resentment over being excluded from certain coordination efforts, for example; the UN suddenly resumed distribution earlier today.
The evidence essentially spoke for itself. The situation was well-documented, with satellite and ground-level images showing trucks passing into Gaza and then the aid just sitting, stockpiled and unused. Israel even released satirical imagery to highlight the absurdity of the situation. It was a bureaucratic and political failure that unnecessarily delayed critical humanitarian assistance.
Jacobsen: Syria, so, the U.S. and France are reportedly holding talks aimed at facilitating a political transition. Any reason for optimism?
Tsukerman: Honestly, not much. The type of conversations that the U.S. and France are having with the government leave much to be desired, especially after the massacres and atrocities in Suwayda and surrounding areas.
Whether these are direct orders or simply tacit approval, government-aligned militias operating under the banner of the Syrian military were involved in acts of mass violence—murders, rapes, and torture of civilians. Since then, the clashes haven’t honestly stopped, despite official ceasefire commitments.
Military forces have been redeployed, frustrating local communities. Yet, there’s still no viable framework for professionalizing the Syrian military, for establishing accountability, or for reforming command structures. Broad government promises have been made, but there’s neither the infrastructure, the expertise, nor the political will to follow through in good faith.
Rather than engaging in polite, diplomatic theatre, the U.S. and France should be playing a direct role in ensuring that these atrocities are not repeated. Israel, for instance, shouldn’t be forced into a position where it feels compelled to intervene across the border to protect civilians—or its diaspora, including Druze citizens with relatives in Syria.
This is a failure of leadership. It’s also a failure to condition sanctions relief on actual evidence of reform. No serious progress has been made on security sector reform, civilian protection, or disarming radical militias. Instead, extremist elements and foreign fighters continue to roam unchallenged in areas the regime claims to control.
There’s also the issue of foreign interference. Countries backing pro-government militias have enabled and even encouraged some of this violence. Syria, for its part, appears to have misread signals from Israel and the U.S.—interpreting their restraint as a green light to use force against minority groups under the guise of resolving sectarian conflict.
There’s been deep, longstanding tension in some of these regions. The outcome of the recent talks included vague commitments to grant the Suwayda communities—particularly Druze but also others—greater autonomy. But that’s not the same as meaningful protection from intercommunal violence.
What we’re seeing is symbolic self-governance in areas that were already effectively outside the Syrian central government’s control. These communities had some degree of autonomy, and that very autonomy—combined with government neglect—created a vacuum that enabled this cycle of bloodshed in the first place.
So, unless we see a genuine political transition backed by enforceable commitments, this isn’t a peace process. It’s a diplomatic cover for authoritarian consolidation, using sectarian proxies to maintain control.
These were communities that had been self-governing and self-defending for years, with deep mistrust not only toward the regional leadership but also toward Damascus more broadly. Not all factions, of course—but enough to keep the area relatively autonomous and, at times, highly restive.
The Syrian government viewed the local unrest as an opportunity to reassert control over the region. And now we’re seeing the consequences. As of yet, there is still no proper security framework in place. The U.S. could and should be more involved. But instead, Washington appears increasingly focused on minimizing its military footprint in Syria, looking for any excuse to disengage.
I think the only argument that might persuade this administration to take more substantive action is a pragmatic one: U.S. investments—whether humanitarian, diplomatic, or economic—will be endangered by the continued presence of extremist militias. No investor will take U.S.-led development seriously if projects are exposed to terrorism, violence, state collapse, or gross human rights violations.
That should be obvious. But for some reason, it isn’t.
Jacobsen: Alright, shifting topics. Explain to me why this Japanese conservative—some say far-right—politician suddenly became so much more popular than expected, especially among people who consume a lot of YouTube and other audiovisual content. What’s going on there?
Tsukerman: What we’re seeing in Japan is the resurgence of a particular strain of far-right nationalism—one with roots going back to World War II but which, for many years, was politically marginalized or moderated within the mainstream conservative bloc.
That said, there’s always been a subset of nationalists in Japan who argue that even the mainstream conservative parties are too dependent on the United States, too soft on external threats, and too open to foreign influence. It’s an ironic argument, really—Japan is one of the most culturally uniform, highly structured, and socially conformist nations in the world. It’s hardly overrun by foreign influence.
Still, these narratives tap into real anxieties, notably around Japan’s demographic decline and labour shortages. As Japan increasingly relies on foreign labour to fill jobs that either don’t attract domestic workers or for which there simply aren’t enough people, these nationalists frame immigration as an existential threat, rather than an economic necessity.
And in the past year, these voices have gained momentum—partly thanks to Trump-style rhetoric, amplified on platforms like YouTube, where algorithmic incentives reward emotionally charged, polarizing content. There may also be coordinated disinformation campaigns at play, where anti-Japan sentiment—real or manufactured—is used to provoke backlash and stir up nationalist fervour.
Jacobsen: Deliberately done to provoke a political reaction?
Tsukerman: That’s one possible theory. It would follow a pattern we’ve seen elsewhere—Trump using inflammatory rhetoric against countries like Canada, which in turn bolstered nationalist backlash and helped shift internal political dynamics.
So, why would Trump want this result in Japan? Because it plays into a broader strategy. He views these rising far-right populist movements as fellow travellers—whether it’s Japan’s nationalists, Germany’s AfD, or the Reform Party in the UK. There seems to be an effort—formal or informal—to build an international network of these ideological allies.
Interestingly, many of these movements embrace populist economic policies—often closer to socialism or even state feminism—despite branding themselves as nationalist or right-wing. Trump himself has criticized traditional conservative economic doctrines—like free trade and deregulation—as “neoliberalism,” blaming them for many of the West’s problems.
He’s drawn to the idea of strongman populism: ideologically flexible, personality-driven leadership that rejects globalism, questions alliances, and appeals to a particular vision of national pride. That model is being replicated—or at least admired—in more places than people realize.
Trump simply admires these types of figures. He sees them as “tough,” “natural leaders”—and the louder they rail against immigration and foreign influence, the more he views them as strong defenders of their nations. Of course, most of that is pure theatre. Much of what these politicians promise is vague, and their proposed solutions are often completely disconnected from economic or political reality.
We’re already seeing the consequences. In the U.S., for instance, while the markets may not yet reflect it, the underlying economy is showing signs of strain—declining job creation, contractions in GDP, and the disappearance of small businesses. These trends are starting to affect real people, even if the headlines haven’t caught up yet.
The same thing will happen in other countries that adopt this brand of populist economic nationalism. Instead of making nations stronger, these policies will leave them weaker and more isolated.
Take Japan. A Japan with poor relations with the United States is increasingly left to fend for itself. We’re already seeing the results: Japan has recently been pushed into signing a trade pact with China and South Korea—an outcome few mainstream Japanese parties wanted, since most view China as a strategic threat, not an ally.
And yet, now Trump is publicly praising the direction Japan is taking. Even more concerning, the extremists gaining traction in Japan are also pro-Russian, despite Russia still occupying Japanese territory—the Kuril Islands—an unresolved point of geopolitical tension dating back to World War II and even earlier, to the Russo-Japanese War.
This isn’t just a political coincidence. The broader strategy appears to be undermining traditional U.S. alliances and unravelling the post–World War II liberal international order. And who benefits? Russia and China. That’s the bottom line.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/09
Part 2 of 4
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and GasCommittee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In this interview, human rights and national security attorney Irina Tsukerman joins Scott Douglas Jacobsen to discuss Donald Trump’s golf trip to Scotland, its political undercurrents, and the challenges of U.S.–EU trade talks under his zero-sum approach. She critiques Trump’s reluctance to pressure Russia meaningfully, outlines Sudan’s Islamist resurgence amid alliances with the military, and examines the RSF’s resource-driven power struggle. Tsukerman also addresses allegations of UNRWA’s ties to Hamas, highlighting stalled aid at Gaza’s border and bureaucratic failures that delayed humanitarian relief. Her analysis connects geopolitical maneuvering, resource control, and political opportunism to broader instability and diplomatic inaction.
Interview conducted July 25.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In other news, President Trump has reportedly flown to Scotland to play golf and engage in bilateral trade talks with the EU. Quick thoughts on the golf, and more serious comments on the trade discussions?
Irina Tsukerman: Well, given how quiet the world is right now—sarcasm intended—I suppose it’s the perfect time to play golf in Scotland. That said, Trump rarely travels just for leisure. There are likely business angles involved.
There are actors in Scotland he’s worked with before. The Scottish National Party, for instance, has received financial backing from foreign sources, including Russia and Qatar. It’s precisely the kind of anti-establishment, anti-globalist movement that both Trump and Musk have tacitly supported in the past. Whether it’s symbolic or substantial, the fact that Trump is engaging in bilateral talks while courting those kinds of actors should not be overlooked.
It’s become, essentially, a proxy for foreign-aligned interference in the United Kingdom. These are the kind of figures who could informally meet Trump over lunch or during a friendly round of golf—and then, shortly afterward, we might see certain political developments emerge that align with those interests inside the UK.
Meanwhile, the Reform Party is gaining traction and appears to be getting support from American political actors—potentially even inspiring U.S.-style movements of their own, despite, or perhaps because of, their failings in the American context.
Now, regarding the bilateral U.S.–EU trade talks, the issue Trump faces is that the EU has significant leverage. That’s why his threats or pressure tactics don’t easily sway them.
Ideally, we would see a free trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU—one that removes most tariffs and fosters mutual market access. This is especially relevant now, as the EU seems increasingly open to trade with China, even as Chinese policies raise red flags, like the export of cheap electric vehicles, many of which come with concerns over data security and surveillance.
American goods, in comparison, should be welcomed. And if European consumers ultimately choose not to buy U.S. products due to price or preference, that’s simply market behaviour—no one can reasonably argue with that. But Trump has escalated what should be a trade discussion into a political and ideological conflict. He’s turned a trade disagreement into a political weapon.
For one, Trump operates under a zero-sum mindset: if someone wins, someone else must lose. He doesn’t accept that trade can be mutually beneficial—or mutually harmful. That framework has made negotiation virtually impossible.
Second, he carries personal and political grievances against various EU leaders, which limits his willingness to compromise. His rhetoric has antagonized the very people he should be cooperating with. In some cases, he and his allies—reportedly including associates linked to Moscow—have meddled in European elections. He’s also publicly insulted heads of state, undermining trust and goodwill.
He’s pressured EU nations into buying American military equipment, tying it to NATO spending benchmarks like the 2% GDP defence target. While that’s a separate issue, it colours the broader relationship and complicates trade discussions.
All of these factors make meaningful progress difficult. And frankly, Trump doesn’t seem to be taking the process seriously. He promised 90 trade deals in 90 days. So far, he’s sent about 25 letters of intent. He’s signed a handful of agreements with various countries, but none have eliminated tariffs. Many have been criticized for their limited scope or negative economic consequences.
Some of the deals have raised costs for U.S. consumers. Specific industries—especially those reliant on imports or exports—have suffered, with some businesses even closing down due to increased trade barriers. That economic fallout hasn’t gotten much coverage in mainstream news, but it’s affecting real people, including some of Trump’s supporters.
All of this is entirely avoidable—and tragic. It’s leading to fewer people, both here and abroad, being able to enjoy access to diverse, high-quality products, collaborate in international business, and prosper together.
I hope that, at some point, Trump is forced to wake up to the consequences of his actions. But his calculations don’t appear to be about long-term prosperity. They’re focused on winners and losers at any cost. Or worse, on exploiting market volatility for personal gain, whether through side deals or opportunistic investments.
If that’s the case, he probably doesn’t care how any of this impacts the U.S. economy or our relationships with allies in Europe.
Jacobsen: Trump is on record now threatening to enforce tariffs on Russian oil. Honestly, that might be the least surprising news of the day.
Tsukerman: I think most observers, especially those familiar with Trump’s past rhetoric, were deeply skeptical that he would follow through with any real pressure on Russia.
At best, this kind of threat is rhetorical leverage. At worst, it’s a pattern. He previously gave Russia a two-week deadline for sanctions action. Nothing happened. Even months later, nothing followed. What’s your view?
This is likely just another empty threat. Trump consistently demonstrates an inability—or unwillingness—to move past his admiration for Putin, often framing him as a kind of strongman ideal.
For whatever reason—be it personal, political, or financial—Trump seems to have a persistent bias against Ukraine. Maybe it’s connected to his domestic political grievances involving prior administrations. Or perhaps he’s just so personally invested in the issue that he refuses to reverse course, regardless of new developments.
But what is clear is this: despite the public posturing, Trump’s actual steps in favour of Ukraine have been minimal, indeed, nowhere near the level needed to counterbalance the time and political capital he has spent accommodating Russia. He’s lost credibility with U.S. allies, and he’s shown a repeated unwillingness to apply real pressure on a country that openly considers the U.S. an enemy—one whose state media regularly broadcasts anti-American propaganda.
Economically, Russia isn’t even a viable strategic counterpart to the U.S. It has limited global economic value, and it remains firmly aligned with China. Trump’s continued posturing doesn’t strengthen America’s security or financial position. On the contrary, it weakens it.
If he were serious about sanctions on Russian oil, he would have acted already, instead of giving extended, meaningless deadlines that allow Russia to continue bombing Ukrainian civilians with impunity.
Jacobsen: Switching gears—Sudan. Islamist factions are plotting a post-war comeback, supporting the military to reassert their influence. Any thoughts?
Tsukerman: Honestly, that headline’s a bit outdated. Sudan’s Islamists never really left. They’ve been making a comeback from the earliest days of the war. The fact that they aligned themselves with General al-Burhan. One of the principal warlords in Khartoum. It is clear evidence of this.
They’re willing to make unsavoury alliances to reassert control. In supporting the army, they’re playing the long game: outlasting the chaos, re-infiltrating institutions, and preparing to shape Sudan’s post-war political order.
Some of the states are banking on Sudan’s eventual stability. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and others have been willing to overlook what they would typically view as a primary strategic threat. Specifically, I’m referring to the reemergence of Islamists and allies of former President Omar al-Bashir. Many of these figures have been released from prison to support the Sudanese army’s war effort.
Ordinarily, that would alarm these countries. But in this case, they appear to see it as the lesser—or perhaps less immediate—of two evils compared to the threat posed by the RSF, the powerful paramilitary group challenging the state. Their decisions likely come down to existing relationships, regional alliances, and the individual agendas of key rulers.
The RSF, for its part, has received backing from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and a variety of international mercenary networks. While consolidating control and playing into tribal dynamics within Sudan, the RSF has been looting Sudanese gold to enrich its foreign patrons. So this isn’t just a power struggle. It’s a battle over natural resources as well.
There’s also a growing conflict over port access. For example, UAE had proposed building a port in Sudan, but the capital rejected it. That’s added fuel to the rebellion and raised further questions about long-term economic and geopolitical control in the region.
Islamists have become a convenient proxy. Their ideological foundations date back decades. They’ve maintained support within many local populations, particularly in areas tied to the legacy of al-Bashir.
Once the active phase of the war subsides, the Islamists will almost certainly try to capitalize. They’ll cash in on the “favours” done for the military and leverage the weakness of a fractured government to expand their influence. This could mean anything from forcing the sitting government to adopt Islamist policies to outright seizing power.
If that happens, the modest reforms introduced after al-Bashir’s fall will likely be erased. Any hope of a transition to a civilian-led democracy will be buried. The longer this continues, the less likely it is that Sudan will return to a more liberal political track. Many reformers and ordinary Sudanese citizens have lost hope.
The silence and inaction of the West only reinforce the belief that there’s little appetite for serious reform, justice, or long-term stability. Western governments seem either distracted, disinterested, or unwilling to engage in robust diplomacy or aid intervention.
Jacobsen: And Trump?
Tsukerman: For Trump, it’s transactional. He may want the conflict to end, but he doesn’t seem to care who ends up in charge, so long as the fighting stops and U.S. interests remain untouched. Other nations seem to be taking a similar stance: whoever emerges victorious, they’ll work with them, provided regional stability isn’t threatened.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/08
Part 1 of 4
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and GasCommittee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Irina Tsukerman dissect Trump-era refugee policies favoring white South Africans as racially selective and legally dubious. She also argued that Elon Musk’s restriction of Starlink services in Ukraine, especially during key military advances, effectively supported Russian interests and undermined Ukrainian sovereignty. Tsukerman highlighted the dangers of U.S. reliance on private actors for national security infrastructure and called for stricter contractual controls to prevent unilateral interference in geopolitically sensitive conflicts.
Interview conducted July 25.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Once again, we’re here with the ‘Washington Outsider’ for the Everywhere Insiders—the wonderful Irina Tsukerman. Thank you for joining me again today.
Irina Tsukerman: Always a pleasure.
Jacobsen: Today, we’re broadcasting all sources from Reuters. I’m calling in from Charles Degaulle Airport in France, late in the evening on Friday, July 25—just passing the time while getting everything set up. So, first, diplomats have reportedly asked whether the Trump-era refugee policy for South Africans was intended to include only white applicants, or if nonwhite South Africans could also qualify.
According to a 2018 email obtained during litigation, a Trump official stated the refugee program was being explicitly considered for white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners, who were allegedly facing discrimination. However, the State Department publicly maintained that U.S. asylum law does not discriminate by race, and that eligibility is based on credible fear of persecution regardless of racial background. This apparent contradiction has caused confusion and concern, especially in light of the administration’s broader track record on immigration. What are your thoughts on this?
Tsukerman: I’m not sure this is simply a case of confusion. It seems more like an attempt to clean up what could be interpreted as a racially selective or discriminatory asylum policy. One that would reflect poorly on the administration.
Let’s look at the facts. The justification given by some officials for prioritizing white South Africans—particularly Afrikaners—was that they faced increasing threats, land seizures, and discrimination under post-apartheid government policies. Then-President Trump tweeted in 2018 that he had asked the Secretary of State to look into land expropriations and “large-scale killing of farmers,” echoing rhetoric often associated with far-right narratives.
Now, the claim of a “white genocide” in South Africa has been widely debunked by both local and international experts. While farm attacks and murders do occur and some Afrikaners feel targeted, there is no evidence of a coordinated campaign or genocide. That said, South Africa’s land reform policies and affirmative action programs have been controversial and, in some cases, have affected white farmers economically.
So, while there may be cases of legitimate asylum claims from individuals of any race in South Africa, the idea of prioritizing only white South Africans for refugee status is highly suspect, especially when the U.S. was, at the same time, limiting asylum access for Black and brown migrants from Central America, the Middle East, and elsewhere.
And here’s the legal dilemma: if a nonwhite Afrikaner—or, for that matter, any nonwhite South African—experienced the same discrimination and threats as a white counterpart, would they be considered eligible under this supposed policy?
That question exposes a core tension. On one hand, the administration claims to be assisting those who have been “discriminated against.” On the other hand, if language or culture (like speaking Afrikaans) is being used as a proxy for race, it raises red flags. Restricting eligibility in practice to white applicants, regardless of their actual circumstances, would violate U.S. asylum law.
Also telling is the lack of actual uptake: very few South Africans, white or otherwise, sought asylum in the U.S. in response to this policy shift. That suggests the issue may have been overstated for political effect—perhaps more about signalling than substance.
All in all, this policy appears legally flimsy, morally questionable, and politically awkward. And the administration’s clumsy messaging only deepens the controversy.
If people are truly in such dire straits—facing what they describe as genocide, discrimination, or mass violence—why wouldn’t they take the opportunity to seek refuge in a haven where they wouldn’t be at risk? That’s why I question whether this issue has been politicized beyond recognition.
There’s no clear evidence of genocide, or even mass violence, in South Africa that would make this refugee policy more relevant than, say, Haiti, where a U.S. court only recently extended Temporary Protected Status until February, despite the administration’s efforts to deport thousands. Or take Turkey, where we’ve seen large-scale violence and state-sponsored crackdowns, or other countries dealing with war-like conditions.
Yes, South Africa has racial tensions. But do those tensions rise to a level that warrants special refugee protections for one specific group?
I’m not convinced. And to be clear, there is no genocide in South Africa. I think, quite simply, the administration wants to stick to the kind of red-meat policies that appeal to their base—for better or worse—but they’re also aware of the legal and diplomatic fallout. How this looks to the international community, to legal experts, to everyone outside the hardcore MAGA base—it’s not good. Frankly, the optics are terrible.
Jacobsen: Musk reportedly ordered the shutdown of Starlink satellite service once Ukraine retook territory from Russia.
To be clear for the transcript: Russia annexed Ukrainian land illegally. Ukraine has since retaken portions of that land. Musk then disabled Starlink service, at least in those newly liberated areas, if not entirely, depending on which report youbelieve.
What’s your take on this? What do you think is the reasonable inference behind Musk’s rationale? Is this consistent with his behaviour since 2022?
Tsukerman: To be perfectly honest, this only reinforces my personal view that Musk wants Russia to win the war, or at the very least, he doesn’t want Ukraine to win and reclaim its full sovereignty.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this. Musk previously restricted Ukraine’s use of Starlink for offensive military operations. The terminals were limited to defensive communications only until the U.S. government negotiated a separate contract that allowed for broader military use.
You could argue Musk was motivated by profit or risk aversion, but he never seemed to place any moral or strategic pressure on Russia. He treated both sides as equally complicit in the conflict, as if Ukraine hadn’t been invaded and wasn’t fighting for its survival. That kind of moral equivalence is deeply flawed.
You cannot defend your population if you’re not able to go on the offensive against invading forces. That’s the basic logic of self-defence. Denying Ukraine the communication tools it needs to conduct offensive operations directly undermines its ability to win the war and protect its people.
Jacobsen: It’s being reported that Russia may have gained access to Starlink technology as well.
Tsukerman: Yes. There were reports that Russian forces somehow gained access to Starlink terminals, or at least to Starlink connectivity. It hasn’t been fully explained how that happened, but the optics are damaging. There’s a strong implication that Musk or his companies were, at best, careless, or at worst, complicit in letting those systems fall into Russian hands.
What’s most striking is the timing, the moment Ukraine started making real gains by retaking occupied land and launching legitimate military operations against Russian military and logistical targets, Musk abruptly shut down access to Starlink. Not because civilians were harmed. Not because Ukraine violated some humanitarian principle. But it seems that Ukraine dared to push forward.
He claimed the move was to prevent escalation or offensive use. He never placed any similar restrictions on Russia’s offensive actions. He didn’t block Russian communications when they were bombing civilians, torturing prisoners, or trying to wipe out Ukrainian infrastructure. His ‘neutrality’ wasn’t neutral. It consistently advantaged Russia.
The only reasonable conclusion is that Musk didn’t want Ukraine to succeed beyond the point where it could simply survive. He seemed to want Ukraine to endure for the U.S. and other parties to keep paying for his services without allowing a decisive Ukrainian victory.
If Ukraine were to lose entirely, Starlink would no longer be of strategic value to the U.S. government. That would undercut his contracts and his influence. It’s not about doing good in the world. It’s about profit, power, and control.
Otherwise, Musk would have provided the Starlink services for free and without restrictions, which was not the case. What this tells us is that the U.S. government is dangerously reliant on a private individual for a critical tool of geopolitics. While other countries and private entities are now developing similar satellite communication systems, the fact that the U.S. government didn’t invest early in acquiring this technology independently is a major strategic miscalculation.
Today, it’s Ukraine. Tomorrow, it could be Taiwan and China. We also know that Musk reportedly refused to provide Starlink coverage for U.S. military operations in the Taiwan Strait. That’s another layer of concern.
But beyond that, I don’t understand why—after the previous incidents involving Musk’s interference in Ukraine’s use of Starlink—the U.S. government didn’t include an exclusivity clause in its contracts. Something that would guarantee government control over strategic use and limit Musk’s ability to impose his conditions.
Sure, pay Musk fairly for the service—but in return, he shouldn’t be allowed to unilaterally decide when or how the network can be used during conflicts. If he does, there should be substantial penalties or breach-of-contract consequences. There are many ways to leverage someone like Musk. He needs government business, and there’s still significant prestige in working with the U.S. government—prestige he may not get elsewhere.
Now, Europe is developing its satellite systems. Taiwan is too. Musk’s monopoly in this private satellite sector is narrowing. The U.S. should have recognized that the window of opportunity was closing and acted accordingly.
The only reason I suspect they didn’t is because Trump’s policy—at least during his administration—was aligned mainly with Musk in this area. Either Trump wanted Russia to win, or, if that wasn’t possible, he didn’t want Ukraine to win outright. So, he let Musk play this dangerous game.
The administration could have applied enormous pressure on Musk through contract threats, legal tools, even regulatory and tax scrutiny—to ensure continued service. But they didn’t. Unfortunately, this seems to reflect how extensive Russia’s influence over U.S. policy may still be.
Many continue to claim Russian influence is a hoax. But the fact that a private citizen is allowed to dictate the military communications policy of a U.S. ally tells a different story. Russia never stopped meddling in U.S. affairs—and the U.S. government has, in many ways, allowed it.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/07
I knew a guy one time at the construction site as a teenager.
He was French, so a French-y kinda guy.
We used to all sit around having lunch at a 3-storey building.
Just a bunch of random guys, working, sort of,
a lot of nonsense talk havin’ fun,
just pissing around putting a frame on air.
People are big on that,
enclosures.
I learned that pretty young.
We yearn for the forest trails,
a lake to fish,
a starry night to gaze.
A thoughtful comment at sunset,
to genuflect.
Frenchy used to walk with a limp.
He’d have his belt around his waist to carry tools.
His toolbelt.
Many men used to die during construction projects.
Many still do.
Safety harnesses, hardhats, spotters, safety personnel.
These help.
Ol’ Frenchy one time started slipping at an older site,
story goes.
Slipping off rooftop, no harness, missed the grip,
whoosh!
Off he went.
He fell several stories.
He landed on a bump of rocks that are crushed called ‘crush rock.’
Common in construction of the time, probably now.
Frenchy snapped his back.
Ever since,
a limp.
That’s life.
Concrete forms,
the walls that make the frames for air, boxes for air.
You know, the stuff people like.
As the concrete is poured, it gets vibrated to remove air pockets.
Clamps hold the wooden framework.
A wooden framework holding the poured and vibrated concrete.
Those are held together by steel clamps.
They get piled.
Beside the pile of crush rock,
was a pile of steel clamps,
Frenchy just missed it.
Likely outcome, if a little over on the fall,
he woulda been dead.
That’s also life.
So, he had a limp.
We all had something like a limp.
just our limp wasn’t a limp.
We didn’t get asked about our limps.
We got asked about progress on the air boxes.
You know, the stuff people like,
care about.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/06
I stand by the mainstream standards of psychometrics: APA, BPS, and CPA standards. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (co‑published by APA, AERA, and NCME) outlines the stringent test construction and validation requirements. Tests not adhering to these standards are not considered psychometrically credible instruments. First, individuals must not have conflicts of interest in creating, administering, or scoring psychometric tests. Otherwise, the results become invalid by professional standards, whether friends with the scorer, the hirer of the scorer or working for the company in which the score has been claimed validated. Any such score cannot be considered valid when a clear conflict of interest is present.
High-range tests began in the late 20th century. They attempt to measure intelligence beyond the ceilings of professionally accepted instruments. Their development occurred largely outside institutional psychology, which has resulted in widespread methodological flaws and a lack of academic legitimacy. The high-range testing community (e.g., Prometheus Society, Mega Society, etc.) features self-created tests often designed by individuals without formal training in psychometrics.
Many of these people work with one another, for one another, found and join societies, then invite one another’s participation, and then take their friends’ tests and garner a listing on the rankings or directories. While some independent efforts reflect intellectual seriousness and commitment, they remain outside the scope of recognized professional standards. Their creators are intellectually serious. However, most lack doctorates in psychometrics or clinical psychology, licenses from relevant bodies, and their tests are not peer-reviewed or professionally validated. The overlapping roles of test creators, scorers, and participants within small, insular communities raise valid concerns about objectivity and the independence of results.
According to Mensa International’s former international supervisory psychometrician, Dr. Kristóf Kovács, even scores above ~145 on SD 15 are unreliable after that point. Not just him, according to Dr. Abbie Salny and other psychometricians, most mainstream IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-IV, SB5) have diminishing reliability past 130–145 SD15, even under proctored conditions. Beyond 145 on SD 15, scores become increasingly speculative due to standard error of measurement and ceiling effects.
Fundamentally, a claim of an IQ score out of these would be illegitimate, particularly as the higher rarities of IQ are claimed. This would mean above 145 on SD 15 if these were mainstream and proctored by certified professionals. Even there, that is based on the best professional tools. This is to say, IQ tests developed without psychometric oversight—self-administered, untimed, and unproctored—are typically non-standardized and lack validity and reliability as psychological instruments. That is, they violate standardization, reliability, and validity criteria. They are often unnormed and lack clinical controls.
To be considered a valid psychological instrument, a test must meet three core criteria: validity (it measures what it claims to measure), reliability (it produces consistent results over time and contexts), and standardization (it has been normed on a sufficiently large and representative sample under controlled conditions). Tests that do not meet these criteria — especially those created outside professional oversight — cannot produce scores that meaningfully reflect cognitive ability in the same manner.
Some high-range tests employ inflated standard deviations to generate higher numerical scores. While this may appear impressive to lay readers, it is mathematically misleading and lacks empirical justification within a scientifically valid norming structure. Disseminating inflated or unsupported IQ scores can mislead individuals about their cognitive abilities, reinforce elitist attitudes, and erode public trust in psychological science. Ethical responsibility demands accuracy, humility, and transparency in any discussion of intelligence testing. Such claims are not recognized as valid by contemporary professional standards and should not be equated with WAIS‑V, SB5, or Raven’s APM scores — each of which is psychometrically credible only when administered under professionally controlled conditions. Therefore, any claim to this or that IQ score falls into the same illegitimate category by those mainstream, well-established standards.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/06
Part 2 of 2
Caroline Geraghty explores the dynamics of authenticity, vulnerability, and communication in early dating. She emphasizes self-awareness through her CORE method—Center, Observe, Reflect, Express—and offers practical advice on managing nerves, reading cues, and fostering genuine dialogue. Geraghty highlights the value of curiosity in balancing storytelling and listening, setting respectful boundaries, and navigating both connection and disconnection with grace. Whether planning a second date or soft-landing an exit, she stresses the importance of honesty and emotional intelligence. Her insights encourage openness, kindness, and clarity—building meaningful relationships while honoring one’s values, intentions, and the time of others.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How do you balance storytelling and listening when you’re first trying to gauge a person’s rhythm? Some people lean into storytelling more; others prefer to listen. How do you figure out how much to lean in or pull back in either direction?
Caroline Geraghty: That’s such a great question. One way I find helpful is to dig deeper with curiosity.
For instance, someone might say, “I’m from here,” or “I grew up there,” and discuss their hometown or background a bit. You can build on that by noticing potential shared experiences or emotional cues. If it sounds like they moved around a lot, you might say, “Oh, it sounds like you moved around a lot—how did that make you feel as a kid?”
Let’s say they mention that their parents were in the military and that they lived on different bases. That opens up a whole layer of experience you can connect with. Even when you’re sharing your own story, reflect on something that invites them to open up more.
So, in that example, if they say, “I moved a lot,” you could say, “Oh, I also had to change schools in fifth grade—it was hard for me to make friends, too. But eventually, I found my footing through [X, Y, or Z].” That shared emotional territory deepens the conversation and builds an authentic connection.
Jacobsen: So you’re opening the conversation for them while also allowing yourself to share more about you. What if someone’s authentic self is less self-confident?
Geraghty: Absolutely. When it comes to self-confidence, one thing I feel serves everyone—and is serving me right now—is this: you have to do it. You have to put yourself out there.
It starts with understanding your goals for that specific connection. Are you looking for a partner to share your life with? Or someone to enjoy certain activities with? Understanding your motivation behind building a connection helps frame the interaction with purpose.
Then lean into that. Be the type of partner you’d like to have. Recognize that you already have everything you need to attract the kind of person you’re looking for in your life.
And if nothing else—give your best friend a call before the date. You should have someone in your life who can hype you up when you’re feeling low. Lean into your village when you need that confidence boost, for sure.
Jacobsen: What about people and their phones—or smartwatches?
Geraghty: Yes—such an important point. There’s a part of your brain that immediately picks up on something, feeling “off.” It’s a survival mechanism that has been left over from evolution. Even though, as modern humans, we’re creatures of comfort, that part of the brain still gets activated—especially when someone seems inauthentic, overly rehearsed, or distracted.
Therefore, it’s worth centring taking a moment to center yourself and observe your habits. Reflect on how those habits might impact connection. If you’re someone who fidgets a lot or constantly checks your phone, I’d recommend putting the phone away—at least face down.
Now, if you need to have it out—say you’re a parent and want to be available in case there’s an emergency, or you’re in a high-responsibility job—then be forthright about it at the beginning of the date. Communicate clearly and respectfully.
You might say: “Hey, I’m a mom, and my child is with a new babysitter tonight. I’d feel more comfortable having my phone visible, just in case. I appreciate your understanding, and I’ll be mindful not to check it more than necessary. But if it starts to feel like I’m disengaged, please let me know—I’ll adjust.”
That may seem like a lot to put on someone you just met. But if this is someone who could become your partner, it’s also a great way to see how they respond to honesty and healthy communication.
Jacobsen: Now, these are forks in the road. So—how do you soft-land an exit, especially an early one? On the other hand, how do you set up a second meeting if it goes well?
Geraghty: Oh my gosh, yes. I love this.
One thing I always come back to is leaning into your authentic self and being honest—gracefully. If you didn’t feel a connection or chemistry, you can still thank the person for their time and consideration. Maybe say something like, “I appreciated the conversation and the chance to get to know you.”
You don’t have to say it was great if it wasn’t. There are other words you can use—”interesting,” “thought-provoking,” “insightful.” You can acknowledge that it was meaningful to share space with them without pretending it was something it wasn’t. But lean into the words that feel right for you. Don’t oversell it—because that’s also a form of feedback.
Something like, “Hey, I enjoyed our time together. It feels like we may not be aligned on some of the things that are important to me. I truly hope you find what you’re looking for—someone who’s a better fit for you.” And encourage them genuinely.
On the other hand, if you’re enjoying the date, let them know. Please let them know that you’ll be reaching out shortly. Plan for a second date as you say goodbye—or reference something they mentioned enjoying during your conversation. For example: “Hey, I know you love ice cream. There’s a great spot near my gym. I’d love for us to meet there. What does your schedule look like this coming week?”
If you’re not interested, express gratitude, thank them for their time, and wish them well on their journey toward partnership. But if you’re excited—lock it in. Pull out your phone and put that next date in the calendar.
Jacobsen: What if it’s the reverse—if they let you know it’s not a match? How do you accept that?
Geraghty: Whether it’s the former—with grace—or the latter—with enthusiasm and promptness, the response should still come from a place of authenticity. So, if you’re being rejected after the first date, do the same: say thank you and wish them well. All they’re doing is opening the door for your time and energy to be redirected toward someone who is the right fit for you.
If anything—especially as an older woman—I consider myself lucky. I met my husband when we were freshmen in high school, so I haven’t had to navigate the dating jitters many of my peers have. But I’ve lived vicariously through the journeys of my girlfriends—especially now, in the age of dating apps and second marriages.
And I’ve seen how valuable honesty is. Is someone letting you go because it’s not the right fit? That’s a gift. They’re giving you back the most valuable commodity we have—our time.
So, meet that moment with grace and gratitude. You now have the time to focus on yourself and find a better fit.
If I’m the one receiving that enthusiasm—if a first date goes well—then yes, I’m putting it on my calendar. I’ll follow up. I’ll check in. I’ll ask how their day’s going. I’ll look for small opportunities to build connections.
And that goes both ways. If someone is enthusiastic about a second date but I don’t feel the same, it’s still an opportunity to show respect. I might say, “Hey, I enjoyed our time together, but I don’t think this is the right fit.” You could offer to stay connected in a social or professional context.
That may sound strange—but if someone in your social circle might be a better match for them, why not? Or invite them to a social event you’re planning. Something like, “A bunch of us are hanging out at the gym pool—come by and join us.”
You can say: “I enjoy who you are as a person, but I don’t see this as a romantic fit.”
Jacobsen: Caroline, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it.
Geraghty: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Scott. Have a great day.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/06
On December 20, 2017, Peter died. His body destroyed itself in an autoimmune attack. He was knocked out. Doctors connected him to an assistive machine. It kept his body alive, while ‘asleep.’ His lungs filled with fluid. They needed draining by the machinery of plastic, metal, and electronics.
Loved ones gathered around. They knew. It was time to begin the end. His body shut off between the morning into the early afternoon with the closing down of the machine keeping his unconscious body alive.
Death, to not be; Pete met the proverbial scythe of the unending eternal. Weeks passed to months and then a few years. Eileen couldn’t manage the pain, the void, the vacuum of Pete’s memories in her. More than 60 years of the union met as a singlet, a widow.
All unions meet the inevitability of an end with the ever-present two-word question, “Who first?” No matter the depth of the love, the thread-count of the connection, the amiability of the friendship, or the years built after one another. Death cares not for these; lovers do.
In this sense, lovers represent life, itself.
Holding onto a photo of Peter, Eileen met with family members in the early and early-middle parts of February 2021. To reconcile, to meet, to discuss life and love, while drifting in and out of consciousness, she was probably undergoing a psychogenic death.
Little sleep, no eating or minimal food intake, barely sipping water, the implosion of the self over a bond broken. “I’m coming, Pete,” over and over again. She just wanted to be home because her current house was a stranger’s abode, lonely and alone.
February 14, 2021, Valentine’s Day — poetically, Eileen Jacobsen died. Maybe, she met her valentine, maybe not. A Sunday departure from the stage. The Thursday before, some grandchildren visited her.
She turned to one and said, “Oh, hi, Scott.” A greeting meeting the last visit before the final, “Bye.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/08/01
Part 2 of 2
Stephen Frost, founder of Marriage Matching in Osaka, Japan, shares his expertise on international matchmaking grounded in authenticity, intuitive insight, and cross-cultural understanding. In conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Frost explores how unconscious processing, values alignment, and effective communication drive lasting relationships. Drawing from Japanese cultural contexts like Shinto and structured practices such as omiai, he emphasizes the importance of trusting gut instinct, navigating change, and communicating openly. Frost also reflects on the geopolitical shift toward logic over intuition, and how emotional honesty and respect allow relationships to evolve or end gracefully. His insights offer a roadmap to meaningful, global connection.
Stephen Frost, founder of Marriage Matching in Osaka, Japan, shares his expertise on international matchmaking rooted in authenticity, self-awareness, and psychological insight. Frost discusses how self-esteem and unconscious processing shape dating dynamics, why gut instinct and shared values matter more than surface traits, and how structured introductions like omiai foster genuine connection. Drawing from real-world experience, he explores the psychology of compatibility, the dangers of inauthentic behavior, and how open, respectful communication enables long-term relationship success—especially across cultures. The interview offers a practical, thoughtful roadmap to finding love in a globalized world.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Are there different cultural interpretations of that? For instance, how would someone in Perth, Australia experience this compared to someone in Tokyo or Kyoto, Japan?
Stephen Frost: On a societal level, many people are taught to focus on logic and rational thinking. That emphasis is not necessarily tied to one specific culture—it’s more of a modern, global trend. However, when we look specifically at Japan, there’s a unique spiritual underpinning that comes into play.
The predominant indigenous spiritual system here is Shinto. While it faded in influence for a time, it has been making a significant comeback. In Shinto, there’s a belief that everything is connected—everything has spirit, or kami. So a rock is not just a rock. It has its own energy, and it is connected to you in a way that transcends conscious communication.
You may not be able to consciously or even unconsciously interact with it in a conventional sense, but on a deeper, sub-level—this is where some draw parallels with concepts in quantum mechanics—everything is interconnected. This worldview contrasts sharply with most Western frameworks, which tend to view objects and people as distinct, separate entities.
So when we talk about gut instinct or intuition in the Japanese context, it’s often related to this deeper idea of spiritual and energetic connection. You might not know where a signal or feeling is coming from, but you know you are receiving something—and that something matters.
In contrast, in Western systems—and increasingly even within Japanese society—there’s a push to rely on logic and to move away from intuition. People are taught to analyze rather than feel. This shift has made it harder for some individuals to trust or even recognize their gut instincts.
Jacobsen: That sounds like more than just a cultural issue. Is this also geopolitical in scope?
Frost: Absolutely. On a broader geopolitical level, there’s been a long-standing institutional push to train people to think more logically and less intuitively. That is not inherently bad, of course. You do not want people making emotionally driven decisions all the time. Rational thought is essential, especially in public life, business, and governance.
But there are situations—particularly in high-stakes environments—where gut instinct can be more reliable than conscious logic. You see this especially in fields like day trading or military combat. Speak to experienced traders or combat veterans, and many will describe moments when they had an overwhelming instinct to take a certain action. They could not explain why in the moment, but afterward, it was clear that their decision was right.
When it comes to relationships, this becomes even more relevant. People are trying to find an ideal life partner. The number of variables involved in achieving that kind of alignment is massive. I would not go so far as to call it infinite, but it certainly approaches an uncountable range—because most of it is happening below the level of conscious awareness.
Gut instinct plays a major role. People might not be able to articulate why they feel drawn to someone, but that does not make it any less valid. Often, it is the unconscious mind doing the heavy lifting—assessing compatibility, filtering for shared values, and responding to subtle cues that logic alone might miss.
When you’re working at a coaching level—especially during a values elicitation for someone, whether it’s related to relationships or another part of their life—you’re aiming to uncover their top ten most important values. That process can take time. There are other values that fall just below those top ten, which are still meaningful, but they do not carry the same weight. Then, from those value systems, belief systems emerge—and alignment in those beliefs is equally important in a long-term relationship.
Consider this: if someone is in their twenties, they already have two decades of life experience, choices, learned behaviors, belief structures, and values. Truly getting to know someone at that level of depth takes a long time. But in modern dating—where people often only have a few dates to assess compatibility—most of that information cannot be accessed consciously. You simply do not have enough time.
Now, if the person is in their thirties, forties, or beyond, they have even more life experience. They have made more decisions, encountered more situations, and refined their understanding of what they value in a partner. This adds further complexity to their internal makeup, and consequently, finding alignment becomes more challenging.
So what happens? You have to rely on the unconscious. You have to trust that gut instinct—that internal sense that tells you whether there’s alignment or not.
Jacobsen: What if everything seems planned right—good intentions, matching profiles—but the interaction starts off awkward or disconnected? How can someone reset the course appropriately?
Frost: That always comes down to communication. And it is one of the reasons communication is consistently listed among the top three most important factors in any successful relationship.
If people are open and honest with one another—and if there’s also love and mutual respect—then they can usually find a path forward together. People often talk about compromise, but there is a misconception around that word. To many, “compromise” means that one person must give up something important and simply conform to the other person’s wishes. But that is not true compromise.
Effective communication leads to mutual understanding. And in strong relationships, what you often see resembles skilled negotiation—both people making subtle shifts in their beliefs and expectations so they can create unity and harmony together.
Sometimes, people hold on to past emotional baggage, old patterns, or fears that disrupt new relationships. They may be afraid of certain things repeating—so they project those fears into the current situation and act in ways intended to avoid them. Ironically, those very actions can actually bring about the outcome they feared.
Clear, calm communication—not just honest, but calm and clear—is essential. It allows both people to navigate through challenges and find ways to grow together. As long as love and respect are present, there is usually a path forward.
And it is important to remember: people are constantly evolving. We are changing all the time—sometimes in ways we do not even notice. Just walking down the street, taking in new sights, having new thoughts, reflecting on past experiences—all of that subtly reshapes how we think, what we value, and how we connect.
When you read a book or watch a movie, those experiences can amplify or diminish different elements within your belief structures. When larger life events happen—accidents, major transitions, or truly life-changing moments—you often see more significant shifts in a person’s behavior and outlook. These shifts are noticeable at the conscious level, both to the individual and those around them.
But the truth is, the mind is organic. Every moment of every day, it is evolving. Subtle internal changes are always taking place. And it is only through honest and open communication that people can stay aligned through those changes, maintain unity, and build long-term harmony in their relationships.
Jacobsen: If things are going well, how do you continue? How do you naturally set up the next step or a second meeting? And if things are going poorly, how do you hit the “emergency exit” with a soft landing?
Frost: If things are going well, you let them progress naturally. But it helps to have structure. Sometimes people struggle to know what their partner is thinking. Again, this comes back to open communication, trust, and mutual respect. If those elements are in place, you can talk things through and move forward with clarity.
Now, on the other hand, if things start feeling unclear—or if one person begins to sense that something isn’t quite right—it becomes more complicated. Sometimes it is obvious that things are not going to work out. Other times, the feeling is just vague: This does not feel quite right to me anymore.
When someone starts feeling that way, it is usually a sign that they need to take a step back and reflect.
As a marriage agency, we have a rule: from the point of a successful introduction, people should decide whether they are heading toward marriage within six months. The reason is simple—most people know within two or three months whether they are compatible for marriage. If a couple is still unsure after six months, it is usually a sign that something is missing.
Time alone does not resolve fundamental mismatches. Unless someone undergoes a profound, self-chosen shift in their values or outlook—which is rare—extra time does not change the dynamic.
Now, as for a soft exit: it is only possible if both people have that same foundation of communication, trust, and respect. When those are present, it is easier for both to say, “You’re right, this isn’t working. We both deserve to find the right person.” That kind of mutual clarity allows for a graceful, respectful ending.
But if those fundamentals are missing, soft exits become much harder. And this brings us back to the core of every healthy relationship: honesty, communication, mutual understanding, and the ability to work together in a harmonious way.
Jacobsen: Do you have any favorite quotes about this?
Frost: [Laughing] Yikes. And now my mind goes completely blank.
Jacobsen: It reminds me of something funny. There’s this story about how expert pitchers are asked to explain how they throw a ball. They give long, detailed answers—mechanics, mindset, strategy, the whole thing. And yet, every single one of them is wrong.
It turns out that among true experts, this is common. There’s a huge amount of subconscious processing—knowledge and skill that is hidden even from themselves. They do it, but they do not fully know how they do it. It is all happening below the surface.
That is very much the same with relationships and intuition. We process so much unconsciously. We make assessments we can’t articulate. And often, the best thing we can do is trust what we feel—while staying grounded in honest, calm communication.
Frost: So it’s probably a similar thing. Again, it comes down to that whole idea of unconscious processing. One example that came up in a conversation with one of my mentors and trainers was about performing at high levels unconsciously. He explained that to truly operate at a higher level—whether in life, work, or relationships—you have to be functioning from that unconscious space.
Take top-level Formula One drivers, for instance. When they’re asked why they made certain decisions during a race—why they took a turn a certain way, or how they reacted so quickly—they often cannot explain it. It is all instinctive, reactive behavior. There’s no time for conscious thought. If they tried to consciously process each action, it would take too long. The delay would cost them.
So, here’s a quote—from me, if I may:
“As with everything in life, when building a relationship—especially with someone you’re considering as a potential marriage partner—always be completely open and honest. It may not get you the outcome you want with that particular person. But if that’s the case, they’re not the right person for you. And that’s okay. Because they will make space for the right person to come into your life. To build something lasting, you need to be with someone who can see you clearly—and love you as you are.”
Jacobsen: Beautifully said. Thank you very much for your time today. I really appreciate it.
Frost: Sounds good. Feel free to reach out anytime.
Jacobsen: Thank you again. I really appreciate your time and expertise.
Frost: Thank you. Take care.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/31
Calgary, Alberta – August 10, 2025 – Nimrokh Media is hosting the 8th anniversary celebration. It is a gathering honouring the work of Afghan journalists. It will reflect on the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.
The event is on Sunday, August 10, 2025. It happens from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm (Calgary Time). It will be at Banu Kabob Restaurant, 575 28 Street SE, Calgary.
All Canadian media are encouraged to attend the event. Nimrokh Media’s commitment to independent journalism is marked by this anniversary, a platform for dialogue and community connection. There will be traditional Afghan music and cuisine. There will be cultural conversations. There will be presentations about press freedom and the future of Afghan journalism.
“This anniversary is not only a celebration of Nimrokh’s journey as well as a testament to the resilience of Afghan journalists, and the importance of a free press in the face of adversity,” said Fatima Roshanian, Founder of Nimrokh Media.
Event Highlights
- Guest Speakers: Parwiz Kawa, Zahra Nader, and Carolyn Campbell, with a special segment by Fatima Roshanian on personal stories of resistance and resilience.
Tickets and RSVP
- Ticket Price: $35 per person (covers event costs)
- Payment: E-transfer to mail@nimrokhmedia.com (please include your name and number of tickets)
- Press Access: Journalists attending as press are welcome as guests — no ticket required.
- RSVP: Kindly confirm your attendance in advance.
Additional donations to support Nimrokh Media’s journalism are welcome.
About Nimrokh Media
Nimrokh Media is an independent platform dedicated to elevating the voices of Afghan women and marginalized communities, advocating for press freedom, and telling the stories that matter most. Since its founding, Nimrokh has become a vital source of truth and a symbol of resilience for Afghan journalists in exile.
Contact:
Nimrokh Media
Email: mail@nimrokhmedia.com
Website: www.nimrokhmedia.com
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/31
Part 1 of 4
Akin Opatola, President of FIABCI-Nigeria and founder of Olawale Jordan Company, explores the evolving landscape of Nigerian and African real estate. Opatola shares his professional journey from banking to real estate, his global perspective shaped by visiting over 40 cities, and the critical role FIABCI plays in cross-border networking, sustainability, and professional collaboration. Opatola transitioned from banking to real estate, leveraging global exposure from visiting 40+ cities. He emphasizes FIABCI’s role in cross-border networking, sustainability, and professional collaboration, driving Nigeria’s vibrant real estate market, particularly through innovative projects like Eko Atlantic.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we’re joined by Akin Opatola, a distinguished Nigerian real estate professional. He serves as the president of FIABCI-Nigeria and is the founder and principal partner of Olawale Jordan Company, a professional real estate brokerage and marketing firm with offices in Lagos and Abuja. Akin is a Chartered Surveyor, Property Valuer, internationally accredited Mediator, and Real Estate Coach. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants and the Chartered Auctioneers of Nigeria.
Akin began his career in banking, spending approximately 12 years in Nigeria’s financial services sector, including a role as Branch Manager at a Diamond Bank branch in Apapa, Lagos State. He later transitioned into real estate, becoming a respected coach and mentor. He contributes to educational initiatives and industry events and has facilitated courses at institutions such as Lagos Business School and the School of Estate. Is all of that correct? Thank you for joining me today.
Akin Opatola: My pleasure. It’s always a privilege to discuss real estate.
Jacobsen: What is FIABCI’s core mission? From your perspective, how has the organization evolved in Nigeria?
Opatola: FIABCI’s core mission is facilitating cross-border business, professional networking, and continuous learning among stakeholders in the global built environment. One of the things that attracted me to FIABCI is its international scope. I’ve had the opportunity to visit over 40 cities worldwide—partly due to my upbringing. My late father was a retired ambassador, so my family lived in different countries throughout my childhood.
When a senior real estate colleague introduced me to FIABCI, I immediately saw it as an opportunity to engage with professionals across borders, deepen my knowledge in real estate, and pursue cross-border transactions. I joined FIABCI about seven years ago, and it has been a very fulfilling journey.
FIABCI-Nigeria has existed for over 50 years—we celebrated our Golden Jubilee in November 2023. We have a strong network of experienced professionals who have made significant contributions to the organization and the advancement of Nigeria’s real estate sector.
Opatola: He was 89—Papa Adegbemile.
Jacobsen: Oh, wow.
Opatola: Yes. So, in terms of demographics, I’m 47 years old, and I’m still considered among the younger members. We have very senior colleagues in FIABCI-Nigeria. The organization has been around for decades, and they’ve done very well.
Initially, the organization tried to keep membership exclusive to estate surveyors, including me. However, a few years ago, they opened it up to professionals across the built environment, and now there is much more cross-pollination.
We have architects, developers, interior decorators, finance professionals, and bankers. It’s amazing. The networking starts even within our national chapter before we can connect internationally.
We have a dedicated WhatsApp group where we share information—not just about real estate. As you may have seen in my profile, I belong to many associations. I enjoy connecting with people and staying informed about developments in my field and related sectors.
We also have another group dedicated to sharing business briefs and ideas. For instance, some of my architect colleagues might message me and say, “Akin, I just designed a building for my client—he’s looking for a good sales and marketing executive,” and I’m happy to step in. Similarly, when a client needs a reputable architect, I’ll recommend someone and share their contact.
So far, FIABCI has been an incredible experience for me.
Jacobsen: Regarding your journey through over 40 countries, what is your biggest lesson from so much international exposure?
Opatola: That’s an interesting question. The most significant lesson is the value of diversity.
I did part of my primary school in Rome. Back then, my siblings and I could count from one to one hundred in Italian, sing songs in the language, read fluently, and perform in stage dramas at school—all in Italian. I can barely count to twenty-five in Italian, and my siblings are in the same boat.
But it was a profoundly enriching experience. Meeting people worldwide gave me a broader view of life, culture, and society. It opened my mind and shaped how I interact with people and conduct business today.
It helped me appreciate the beauty of diversity. I joined the African Real Estate Society (AFRES) a few years ago. From a FIABCI perspective, I noticed that Nigeria is the only chapter currently active in Africa. As I mentioned, I love to travel, explore different cultures and try new foods. I’m adventurous, even with cuisine.
Through my involvement with AFRES, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Kigali, Addis Ababa, Accra, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi, and several other African cities. Along the way, I’ve met many incredible professionals. As they say, your network is your net worth.
People often ask me, “Akin, can you recommend a good proptech expert in Kenya?” I can make introductions, and people are surprised by my resourcefulness. Friends and family even ask for travel tips: “I’m heading to Johannesburg or Cape Town—where should I stay?” I’ll say, “There’s a lovely boutique hotel called Little Scottyard, and they have fantastic wine.”
People gravitate toward me not just for real estate advice but also because of my openness and international experience. I am genuinely privileged in that regard.
Also, last year, my wife and I received our Canadian visas. We are planning to visit either next year or the year after. I’ve never been to Canada, but I’m looking forward to it.
Jacobsen: Make sure to visit after our annual frost thaw. You’ll enjoy it more that way.
Opatola: [Laughing] I’ll make a note of that.
Jacobsen: Regarding real estate in Nigeria, people may not realize how dynamic the market is. Nigeria is arguably the most vibrant country in Africa in terms of population size and youthful energy. Considering development, interior design, architecture, and other areas of real estate, which sectors do you see as particularly vibrant and poised for growth over the next five to ten years?
Opatola: That’s a very insightful question. Almost all sectors are vibrant—and I’ll explain why.
As you rightly noted, Nigeria has a very young population. I was experimenting with ChatGPT recently, which confirmed that Nigeria’s average age is about 18 years. That’s significant.
That demographic signals opportunity and urgency for developers, architects, and real estate professionals. These are the young people who, within the next five to ten years, will need housing—and not just any housing, but units that suit their lifestyles: one-bedroom, two-bedroom, smaller, more efficient spaces.
Many consultants are already planning for that future. We also face a housing deficit of about 20 million units across Nigeria. In Lagos alone, the deficit is estimated at 4 million units.
We’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of development. Nigeria produces fewer than 2,000 housing units annually, significantly below what is needed. Given this gap, foreign investors are increasingly entering the market—and they are most welcome.
With the current government’s reform agenda, we’re seeing encouraging signs. I recently read that Fitch Ratings upgraded Nigeria’s credit rating. I’m not surprised, as the government’s business-friendly reforms are starting to take effect. Of course, reforms come with short-term challenges—tightening budgets and some economic discomfort—but there’s now a clear light at the end of the tunnel. This is where FIABCI plays an important role.
Our members benefit significantly from international exposure. When we travel and engage with professionals from countries that are far ahead of us in architecture, urban planning, ESG, and sustainability, we gain insights that we bring back home. This helps us advise clients, private developers, and even government stakeholders more effectively—something colleagues without such exposure may not be able to do as easily.
One exciting development is Eko Atlantic, a sustainable, smart city built on reclaimed land off the coast of Lagos. It’s remarkable—wide roads, integrated infrastructure, and an urban design aligned with the concept of the 15-minute city. Residents can access essential amenities like schools, recreation centers, hospitals, supermarkets, and cinemas within a short bike ride or walking distance.
Eko Atlantic is solving many of Lagos’s long-standing infrastructure issues. It has caught the attention of Nigerians in the diaspora, and rightly so. The United States Embassy announced plans to build what will become the largest U.S. embassy in the world—right there in Eko Atlantic. The area is futuristic, with no flooding, efficient street lighting, and well-planned infrastructure.
Another milestone: FirstBank, one of Nigeria’s oldest and most respected financial institutions, broke ground just three weeks ago on its new head office in Eko Atlantic. At 46 stories, it is slated to be the tallest building in Lagos and will be completed in about four years.
The project involved collaborating with a Nigerian architect and an international firm, underscoring the global partnerships emerging in our sector.
With multinational companies and telecoms now considering a presence in Eko Atlantic, there is an increasing demand for local architects to step up and offer smart, innovative, and future-ready designs that meet the standards and expectations of this new city.
A drone shot of Eko Atlantic looks almost unreal. If you’re unfamiliar with it, you might think it’s in Las Vegas or Dubai. It’s truly remarkable—situated right by the water, with about 25 ongoing projects simultaneously.
Even in my practice, around 60 to 70% of my work involves marketing and sales. My firm has been shortlisted for two developments in Eko Atlantic, handling off-plan sales. I’m very excited about where the country is heading.
A few weeks ago, I attended MIPIM in Cannes, France, arguably the world’s largest property exhibition. It allowed me to network with global professionals and experience cutting-edge trends firsthand.
I’m always seeking to stay on the leading edge—whether it’s AI in real estate, drone technology, LED display screens, or virtual reality tools for immersive property tours. I return to my office and share this knowledge with my team. It allows us to confidently craft compelling proposals for innovative sales strategies in projects like Eko Atlantic.
Jacobsen: What is the significance of FIABCI’s consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC? How does that status enhance the organization’s role globally?
Opatola: It’s significant in multiple ways. First, it gives us credibility and institutional recognition—we can proudly say we’re connected to the United Nations system.
Second, we gain access to knowledge resources and thought leadership from the UN. At several of our World Congresses, we’ve had representatives from the UN-Habitat address us, especially on topics like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
FIABCI members are expected to be leaders in conversations around climate change, carbon emissions, and sustainable urban development. This applies even to brokers—how do we advise clients in ways that align with environmental responsibility?
We’ve also been fortunate to have leaders like Claudia Annamuthoni Elisha, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat from Kenya, scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the upcoming World Congress in Lagos.
Beyond that, FIABCI members are sometimes invited to attend UN sessions virtually and in person. We receive newsletters and regular updates from the UN, keeping us aligned with global development conversations.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/30
Part 1 of 2
Stephen Frost, founder of Marriage Matching in Osaka, Japan, shares his expertise on international matchmaking rooted in authenticity, self-awareness, and psychological insight. Frost discusses how self-esteem and unconscious processing shape dating dynamics, why gut instinct and shared values matter more than surface traits, and how structured introductions like omiai foster genuine connection. Drawing from real-world experience, he explores the psychology of compatibility, the dangers of inauthentic behavior, and how open, respectful communication enables long-term relationship success—especially across cultures. The interview offers a practical, thoughtful roadmap to finding love in a globalized world.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Stephen Frost is the founder and director of Marriage Matching, an international marriage matching agency based in Osaka, Japan. As a certified NLP coach with over twenty years of experience, he has helped individuals across the globe find meaningful, lasting relationships—especially in the context of intercultural and international marriages. Through his agency, Stephen combines personalized coaching, cultural awareness, and psychological insight to help clients meet compatible partners and build fulfilling partnerships. His areas of expertise include dating psychology, relationship coaching, and cross-cultural communication, which enable him to guide clients through the unique challenges of international matchmaking.
Passionate about fostering genuine connections, Stephen has empowered countless clients to better understand themselves and approach relationships with confidence, clarity, and authenticity.
Thank you for joining me today. What are some common mistakes people make when trying to impress someone on a first date, instead of just being themselves?
Stephen Frost: One of the most common mistakes people make is assuming they know what the other person wants. It may sound strange, but it’s incredibly common.
What this really comes down to is self-esteem. Many people are uncomfortable with who they truly are, so they present a version of themselves they think will be more appealing—rather than being genuine.
A large part of what we do as a marriage agency here in Japan involves building detailed and accurate profiles for our clients. We conduct multiple consultations to develop a deep understanding of each individual. There’s a cross-checking process where we revisit key points to ensure consistency and accuracy. We also create psychological profiles to better understand each person’s values, communication style, and long-term goals.
So, when we create these final profiles, they tend to be quite accurate. Of course, occasionally something doesn’t surface during interviews, but that’s rare given the depth of the process.
What often happens is that a client will read another person’s profile and feel excited, but then start thinking, “I need to be someone better for this person to like me,” even though the other person has already expressed interest in meeting them. That mindset leads people to perform or posture, rather than showing up as themselves.
And this is where self-esteem and self-acceptance come in. In Japan, these formal introductions are known as omiai, which are structured meetings specifically for people looking to marry. The omiai that go best are those where both people relax and simply allow their true selves to come through. When people try to impress rather than connect, they often get nervous—and that creates distance. Authenticity, not performance, is what leads to real connection.
And it’s kind of natural, in a way, to think, Okay, I like this person—are they going to like me? That anxiety can lead someone to get overly nervous and start presenting themselves as someone they are not. That’s where the trouble starts.
Jacobsen: So what does this mean in terms of the space people create during that kind of interaction?
People typically enter these situations in one of four ways, if we use a simplified model:
- Both people are authentic.
- Both people are inauthentic.
- One person is authentic, and the other is not.
- The reverse of that.
How do those dynamics shape the context once the interaction is underway—say, half an hour or an hour and a half into it? That’s roughly the typical duration, correct?
Frost: Realistically, the only way to reach a solid, effective result is when both individuals are authentic. Now, following an authentic exchange, the outcome could go in a few directions. They might both feel a connection and choose to continue seeing each other, which can lead to a solid relationship. Or one of them may feel it was pleasant but not quite right, and opt not to pursue it further. Or both might mutually agree that while it was a good experience, it simply was not the right fit.
However, when one person is being inauthentic—or worse, both are—the chances of forming a sustainable relationship drop to zero. At some point, the inauthentic person cannot maintain the act anymore. They revert to their natural character, and that can result in a disorienting moment for the other person, who may think, Who is this? Or it can result in an emotional breakdown from the individual who has been pretending.
We had one such case over the many years we’ve been doing this. It was a gentleman from the U.S. who had been living in Japan for a while. He had been dating a Japanese woman for about five months. There had been some small signs—subtle feedback indicating she wanted to do things a little differently—but she kept agreeing to everything he suggested, and on the surface, they seemed happy. He even introduced her to his parents.
Then, one day, she sat him down and said, I can’t do this anymore. I’m not being myself. She ended the relationship right there.
She had created a persona based on the belief that he would not like her authentic self. That was the breaking point. This situation was an exception—truly one in hundreds—but it illustrates the danger of inauthenticity.
Most people who come to a marriage agency are looking for a long-term partner. They already understand that they need to be themselves. If they are not, they know they are unlikely to find a compatible match or build something sustainable. That is something we’ve consistently emphasized and counseled people on for years.
But yes, in that rare case, the woman simply said, I can’t do this anymore. I’m not being myself, and I don’t think he would like who I really am. So she ended it. It hit him like a ton of bricks, as you can probably imagine. He ended up taking a couple of months off from the search because he was crushed.
What actually happened as a result, though, was quite powerful. We spent some time supporting him while he processed the experience. After about two months, he came back, feeling more grounded. And within a week or so of re-engaging, he met the woman he would eventually marry.
Everything had crystallized and clarified in his mind. He met someone who was completely authentic with him—someone he resonated with—and they aligned naturally. Things progressed quickly, and it became clear to both of them that this was it. They decided to get married, and they’ve now been happily married for a few years.
Jacobsen: That’s wonderful to hear.
Frost: Yes, it’s exactly the kind of outcome we strive for—not the heartbreak, of course, but the clarity and connection that can follow. People need to be themselves. When they are not—when they’re performing or playing a role—it might seem convincing for a while, just like a good actor in a movie. But even in film, people eventually pick holes in the plot.
Jacobsen: That’s a good analogy.
Frost: Thank you. And it’s true. When someone plays a role that is not fully thought through or not fully authentic, it eventually unravels. It might seem like the “right” persona, but it is not sustainable. Someone notices the cracks. And it is the same in relationships. Unless you are completely authentic and genuinely aligned with the other person, it is going to fall apart at some point.
Jacobsen: What about sharing parts of your personal story in an appropriate way to build rapport and trust? When you are in the moment and telling your story, but doing it appropriately—reading the other person as you go. It is not performative, but it still helps build rapport and trust because of the honesty involved.
Frost: Absolutely. That is a vital point. Building rapport is essential to any meaningful relationship. Without rapport, you will not get anywhere. When two people are communicating and sharing parts of their lives, yes—it is incredibly valuable.
But it has to be done with care. If one person keeps jumping in with, “Oh yes, I’ve done that too,” over and over, it can come across as performative or inauthentic.
A better approach is to ask questions and let the conversation flow naturally. That way, the sharing becomes part of a dialogue rather than a monologue. As the conversation deepens, personal stories will surface organically.
Another important point, especially in international relationships, is that people often come from vastly different cultural backgrounds. There may be a lack of shared experience. For example, the school system in the U.S. is very different from the school system in Japan. So their experiences growing up may diverge quite a bit.
In those cases, connection often comes through shared interests—things like music, hobbies, or values. Those commonalities can become a foundation for trust and deeper understanding. So yes, people do need to be mindful of how they share their stories and whether they are assuming commonality. Most true commonality comes from shared belief systems and values. And when it comes to deeper rapport or relationship building, it is those shared core values that create the strongest foundation.
Jacobsen: What about gut instinct or intuition during these assessments? How much does that really play a role?
Frost: It plays quite a significant role. Let me give you a bit of background first.
Core values—by definition—are fundamental, often single-word concepts. They’re typically intangible. The only exception, arguably, is money, which can have a tangible component. People hold values across all areas of life: relationships, family, career, business, and so on.
When it comes to relationships, the values people often name as essential include love, communication, respect, honesty, and integrity. These values are the foundations upon which belief systems are built.
So, when two people have similar belief systems or beliefs that arise from those shared values, they tend to feel more aligned. Interestingly, many of these values and beliefs do not emerge in an overt or conscious way. Instead, they surface subtly—unconsciously—through the natural flow of conversation.
For example, someone might describe a past experience, and the way they talk about it reveals a value, even if they do not name it directly. The other person then intuitively picks up on that and thinks, This person seems to see the world like I do. That is often how alignment starts to take shape.
In the marriage agency context, this becomes especially important. We run a highly structured process. For international clients, most initial introductions happen via Zoom and last about 45 minutes. In-person introductions, which are more traditional in Japan, often involve something like afternoon tea and typically last around an hour to an hour and a half.
During these meetings, contact details are not exchanged. That only happens after the meeting and only if both parties indicate they want to move forward. The idea is to keep the interaction relaxed and focused on conversation—not pressure or expectations.
And it’s during these low-pressure, natural conversations that people begin to open up and reveal deeper aspects of themselves. That’s when insights surface, and yes, that’s when gut instinct—or what some people call intuition—starts to play a role.
Malcolm Gladwell talked about this in his book Blink, in a concept called thin slicing. It is the idea that people can make remarkably accurate judgments based on very small amounts of information—snap impressions that are surprisingly reliable. And this has been explored in several psychological systems.
In the context of matchmaking, it aligns with what we observe all the time. When people are authentic and relaxed, the signals they send—both verbal and nonverbal—allow the other person to “thin slice” and get a good intuitive sense of compatibility.
Essentially, what this means is that most people form an impression of someone—and have a sense of how well they are going to get along—within just a few seconds of meeting. And the only way that can happen is through unconscious processing, what we typically call gut instinct.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/30
Jared Navarre, a multidisciplinary entrepreneur and creative strategist, explores how AI is transforming career paths for Gen Z, especially those pursuing nontraditional or unstable roles. With deep experience consulting for over 250 businesses and launching ventures across industries, Navarre explains that AI is rapidly replacing many traditional roles—from dispatching to graphic design—demanding that young professionals become strategic tool users. While AI democratizes intelligence, it also elevates the need for critical thinking, subject-matter expertise, and adaptability. The value now lies in directing AI effectively and maintaining creative and analytical depth in a quickly evolving workforce.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, today, we’re here with Jared Navarre. He’s a multidisciplinary entrepreneur and creative strategist based in Anchorage, Alaska, with experience spanning the IT, logistics, entertainment, and service sectors.
He has successfully launched, scaled, and exited multiple ventures. As a consultant to over 250 businesses, Jared specializes in operational systems, technology infrastructure, and brand ecosystem development. He is the visionary behind ZILLION—an immersive music project that integrates storytelling, multimedia, and live performance—transforming artistic ideas into monetizable intellectual property. He is positioning ZILLION for cross-platform expansion across music, animation, comics, and augmented reality.
So, how is AI changing careers for Gen Z, particularly those looking to pursue less traditional or more unstable career paths? For the last five to ten years, we’ve been hearing that people are increasingly unlikely to stay in a single job or career from college to retirement.
People will be shifting roles frequently. So, how is this landscape changing, and how is it impacting the group that’s entering the job market?
Jared Navarre: First of all, I love the topic. Futurists have been predicting these shifts for decades. There’s a quote I’ve adapted over the years
“The future will be divided into two groups—those giving instructions to machines, and those taking instructions from them.”
In my opinion, and based on what I’ve seen across my companies, Gen Z is the generation that will be most affected by AI. I’ll share a few stories—both from recent consulting projects and from my businesses.
Many professions are not just in limbo—they’re being actively replaced. I’ve seen individuals spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on degrees in fields like graphic design, marketing, legal research, journalism, and even contract law—only to see those roles downsized or automated. In some cases, even the companies I advise or those I work with have had to make those difficult decisions.
When I think of Gen Z, I break it into two groups. The younger Gen Zs—say, those still in school—have a potential opportunity to pivot early. They might even help shape how AI is implemented and maybe even contribute to building the next generation of tools. But even they have a narrow window, and by the time many are making career decisions, these shifts may have already solidified.
That said, people who are adaptable and strategic will always find ways to add value. That’s been true throughout history. But yes—if it helps, I can give a few specific examples from my businesses and some larger organizations I’ve consulted for.
Jacobsen: Sure, let’s do it. You’ve got 250 examples to choose from!
Navarre: Yeah—we stopped keeping track a few years ago, but once we passed the 250 mark, we just focused on quality and depth. One interesting example is from a company I still own—it’s a plumbing and heating business…
And on the dispatching side, multiple companies are racing toward the finish line—and this is already happening across call centers throughout the U.S. Dispatching is especially interesting because each trade, profession, and craft has unique nuances. I’ve consulted for a wide range of service-based businesses.
Take plumbing and heating, specifically. We’re currently in the process of deploying automated dispatching and scheduling systems. As we’ve populated and refined the AI model, it now has better decision-making capabilities than many of our seasoned dispatchers.
We’ve been able to train the model using master-level plumber knowledge and institutional expertise unique to that company. This business operates exclusively in Alaska, which, as you can imagine, presents particular challenges. In Alaska, “no heat” is a real emergency—when it’s -30°F, and someone loses heat, it can be life-threatening.
That’s one fascinating use case. Another involved a major shoe company—a household name. We conducted a three-week AI exploration project for them, and by the end, unfortunately, they let go of ten staff members. Nine of them were Gen Z. The impacted roles included graphic designers and marketers, as the AI tools we implemented were significantly faster and more effective by comparison.
Jacobsen: That’s brutal. So, what does this mean in terms of upskilling and acquiring knowledge? Is traditional knowledge becoming less of a leverage point and more about how well someone uses tools that can instantly provide or apply knowledge?
Navarre: Are you asking from an employee’s perspective—from a human worker’s point of view?
Jacobsen: Is the path forward going to revolve more around an individual’s ability to work effectively with AI tools?
Navarre: Yes, I see what you’re getting at. It depends on the application.
Take, for example, the traditional workflow: something breaks in your house. You make a few phone calls, talk to a human dispatcher who coordinates with another human, check availability, schedule a technician, and so on—eventually, someone shows up to fix the issue.
With automation in place, especially in home services businesses, we’ve eliminated up to three human roles in that entire process.
So yes, it does depend on the context. But to answer your question more directly, when we’re responding to an RFI or RFP—whether it’s from a large company or a government contract—from the consulting side, the human value increasingly comes down to how effectively someone can manage and deploy these tools.
I typically have to estimate between thirty and two hundred person-hours to bid on a job, okay? And that applies whether I’m doing it myself or a large company is bidding—whether it’s for BP, Conoco, or any central entity. There’s a significant amount of labour and detail that goes into preparing those proposals.
But the last contract proposal I put together—for a city project—I completed it myself using Jasper without any assistance from my team. It took me forty-five minutes, pricing and everything included.
So, to your earlier question: yes. You have to be able to use these tools. That is non-negotiable now. But I also think, in the end, intelligence—real cognitive ability—is still going to win.
If you still bring something valuable to the table—strategic thinking, adaptability, creativity—you will navigate through the changes. High-IQ individuals will continue to rise, even as these systems become increasingly analytically advanced.
Jacobsen: These systems are already more analytically alert than we are. They may not yet fully replicate emotional nuance or lived experience, but this democratization of intelligence—what does that do to how we define business and work, especially for the upcoming generation? Could you clarify your perspective on that?
Historically, someone’s skills, knowledge, and cognitive abilities—as well as soft skills—have been the key benchmarks for accessing specific industries, working with certain firms, or building particular kinds of businesses over time.
Now, with these AIs and algorithms—tools that are becoming more intelligent every month—the barrier to entry is lower. These tools can do high-level analytical work. All people need is the ability to frame a good prompt.
That’s a significant shift: it democratizes access to cognitive and strategic output. So, if something that once took 200 hours can now take 45 minutes, what does that mean for our concept of work from both a business and a worker perspective?
Navarre: That’s a great question. And I think we’ve already seen a version of this before—with the democratization of information through the Internet. There were many assumptions made about what that would lead to—most of them incorrect.
I think we’re now approaching a similar inflection point with AI. To provide some broader context, I serve as chairman of a couple of NGOs that run projects in places such as Burma, Thailand, and the Philippines—even in areas where we engage with communities affected by cartel violence in Mexico. These are some of the most remote and underserved places on the planet.
And even in those regions, we’re now seeing meaningful access to the Internet. The infrastructure is catching up. So, if access to information became nearly universal in the past decade, we’re now on the brink of something similar with intelligence—the ability to act on that information at scale.
Sadly, it’s still taking far too long for some of those areas to gain access, which is ridiculous. That being said, based on what I’ve seen across all of my companies—and specifically, if we’re staying focused on Gen Z—a lot of these AI models are still being trained and populated by humans.
Even when people use the tools, I’ve seen more incorrect work products in the last three to six months than at any other point in my career. You still need a deep enough knowledge base to sort through and assess what is accurate, what is viable, and what constitutes a good work product. The number of times these models—I won’t call any of them out individually—have generated incorrect outputs is unsettling.
For example, if I’m preparing for an interview with you and I know nothing about the topic, I can surface a bunch of information quickly. But that does not mean I can speak about it with any depth or authority.
That’s changed how I hire across all of my companies. Now, I prioritize individuals with in-depth institutional knowledge and genuine subject-matter expertise over those who are merely skilled at navigating AI tools. That’s where the real value lies.
I wouldn’t say raw IQ is everything, but deep expertise and cognitive sharpness still matter. They’re the foundation for adapting—and thriving—as AI accelerates.
At the same time, perseverance is another major factor—it can even outperform IQ in some cases.
Some Gen Z professionals who were laid off by Fortune 50 companies three or four years ago—people who had spent the last decade, including their teens, mastering skills like graphic design—have come back to me after retooling and relearning how to bring value to the same space.
Please take one of my companies: I used to have six full-time graphic and web designers. I’m down to one. And the reason that one person remains is because they have an eye for design. That’s it. Their job is now to direct the AI tools—they guide the machine by telling it exactly what to do, but the creative judgment still comes from them.
That’s powerful. And I appreciate that—today is our first formal meeting, but I did a lot of prep to understand who you are and where you’re coming from. You seem to have a strong voice, and ironically, that kind of presence may be more critical than ever in your profession.
People like that are only going to become more valuable. And the truth is, I don’t know how you replicate that—how you bottle it—outside of years and years of deep, focused learning and immersion. There’s no shortcut to that.
Jacobsen: What about educational institutions and creative development programs? How can they adapt to remain valuable in this rapidly evolving landscape?
Navarre: These guys are now generating bids with significantly more accuracy, to be honest, because they’re leveraging historical job costing data—looking at what they estimated for labour versus what it cost and what their margin ended up being on comparable projects.
They’re also submitting around 40 times the number of bids they used to. And beyond that, they’re using AI to scale their workforce dynamically. The entire recruitment pipeline—from sourcing to onboarding—is partially automated.
So when I talk about this window of opportunity, I mean there’s a real chance for individuals and companies to generate massive value—financial and otherwise—if they leverage these tools effectively now. But that window is shrinking every single day.
The same goes for your world. If it’s a race to generate quality content at scale, and it’s you versus someone else who’s using the right tools—then, honestly, the one not leveraging them is at a serious disadvantage.
Jacobsen: What are the sincere risks we should be keeping in mind, even while we enjoy the benefits of these technologies—particularly among younger generations, who are often the most fluent in using them?
Navarre: Man, that’s a great question. I think accuracy and sourcing—I don’t know if anything is more important than those two things right now. Then there’s the importance of keeping intelligent humans around you. And still, find ways to engage your critical thinking mechanisms actively. That can look different for everyone, but it’s essential.
One of the saddest things I’ve seen, and a reason I’ve had to let people go, is that they stopped thinking critically. They relied too heavily on AI tools and just went through the motions. No more analysis. No more depth.
Please—don’t lose sight of the value of the human brain. Applied with depth and intention, it still outperforms the smartest tools. Keep thinking critically. That’s your edge.
Jacobsen: Absolutely. Thank you for your time today. I appreciate it—and thank you for your insight and expertise.
Navarre: Hey, man, I appreciate it. Seriously—your work is excellent. You’re incredibly talented. It’s been a pleasure to be here today. Hopefully, we’ll talk again.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/30
Part 1 of 2
Caroline Geraghty, Internal Account Manager at 110 North Creative Agency, shares insights on authenticity and connection in dating. Drawing from her experience and her CORE method—Center, Observe, Reflect, Express—she emphasizes the importance of grounding oneself, embracing vulnerability, and managing anxiety with self-awareness. She explains how nervousness can stem from excitement, not a lack of chemistry, and offers strategies to create meaningful dialogue and build trust. Geraghty advocates for honest communication, extending grace to oneself and others, and staying curious during first dates to foster genuine connection. Her perspective blends personal insight with compassionate, practical advice for modern relationships.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So today, we’re here with Caroline Geraghty. She’s an Internal Account Manager at 110 North Creative Agency. She previously served as a Client Account Manager from September 2023 to February 2025. Her professional background includes roles in marketing, community engagement, and health care—such as Marketing Specialist at The Karate Group and staff positions at UMC ([clarify: full name of UMC]). Caroline has also been involved in community initiatives, including serving as Block Party Co-Chair for the Bradley Gardens PTO and as Vice President of Hey Girl, You Can.
Her diverse experience reflects a strong commitment to integrating strategic communication with community and healthcare insights.
Thank you so much for joining me today. So, what do you think are common barriers to authenticity that people face on first dates?
Caroline Geraghty: A lot of it has to do with self-confidence. You’re putting yourself in a vulnerable position by opening up to someone completely new—someone you may or may not have had the chance to get to know. And at any point when you’re trying to make a connection with someone, we often start going through this internal checklist—or audit—asking: Am I good enough? Will this person like who I am when we first meet? Have I represented myself authentically sufficient to meet this person’s expectations?
What ends up happening is that the part of your brain responsible for fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—the amygdala—kicks in. It’s there to protect you. But for people who don’t know how to ground or center themselves, that response can hijack the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and executive function.
Sorry, I’m a little nervous—this is the first time I’ve done something like this in a long time.
So even now, in this example, right? This is our first time meeting. I haven’t interviewed in a while, so I prepped myself. I did a bit of centring. What it comes down to is this: it starts with yourself.
Finding the space and time to ground yourself in who you are and what you bring to the table is such an essential first step—especially when it comes to first dates.
Jacobsen: What is the CORE method?
Geraghty: CORE is something I developed during my journey of discovering my neurodivergence. I’ve realized, through conversations with friends, therapists, mental health advocates, and providers, that my brain works a little differently.
One thing I’ve noticed is that not everyone naturally runs through a checklist of how to be human—and I know that might sound silly. However, for individuals who struggle with social interactions or have brains that function differently, maintaining a running list is a powerful tool. It helps you show up as your whole, authentic self in situations that are often nerve-wracking or might otherwise prevent you from building the meaningful connections that are so important to every human being.
So for me, what I’ve noticed—again, going back to “C is for Center”—is the importance of grounding yourself in who you are and checking in with your body. That means acknowledging and calling out the experiences you’re having in real-time. Right now, I’m feeling nervous. I’m feeling a little less confident than I was when I initially responded to your request.
But acknowledging that is part of the human experience. This is an opportunity for me to share my story, to get to know a new person—you, Scott—and to learn more about what you’re doing.
So, “O” is for Observe. That means paying attention to what exactly is happening with those feelings and understanding their origin. For instance, I mentioned earlier that it has been a long time since I last did an interview. Reopening myself to these situations and opportunities brings a learning curve—but hopefully, like riding a bike, I can find my groove, enjoy it, and gradually build up my confidence in this space.
Then we move into Reflecting. Acknowledging that being nervous or not feeling entirely confident isn’t a bad thing—it’s an opportunity for growth, development, and stretching beyond my comfort zone. Ideally, that leads to something even greater.
And finally, Express. This means being able to openly and effectively share your communication experience. Not only being able to ask for what you need in a given situation but also speaking authentically about your lived experience. That authenticity creates a connection—between you and me and with anyone reading or listening in the future.
Jacobsen: How does vulnerability contribute to building a genuine connection early on?
Geraghty: There are parts of your brain that support this. When you’re vulnerable, your body releases oxytocin—not only in you but also in the person you’re interacting with. It lowers defences. Essentially, you’re showing a moment of weakness or openness, and in that shared space, the other person may feel safe to open up as well.
They might share something personal or acknowledge that you’re just another human being navigating life. Vulnerability can create common ground or invite a deeper conversation—something the other person might feel strongly about or a moment where they choose to be more vulnerable themselves.
Jacobsen: How do you balance being authentic while managing nerves—especially in that early-stage context like a first date?
Geraghty: Taking a deep breath helps. And again, remind yourself that people aren’t looking for perfection—especially on a first date.
It’s unrealistic to show up as your most polished self every day. So, starting by saying, “Hey, this is who I am. I’m human. I have flaws. I have vulnerabilities—and I’m okay with that,” shows the person that you’re also okay with their vulnerable moments. You’re the type of partner, connection, or community who can support them when they’re not at their strongest—someone who can hold space when they need to be seen and heard.
Jacobsen: How do you distinguish between lack of chemistry and first-date anxiety? Because people might conflate those at the moment. If someone is feeling anxious during a first date, they might mistake that anxiety for a lack of chemistry. And those aren’t necessarily the same thing. They could be, depending on the person—but they often aren’t. So, how do you tell the difference in the moment?
Geraghty: That’s a great question. At the moment, if you’re feeling anxious, one way to distinguish between the two is to shift your mindset. Center yourself and recognize: Yes, I’m feeling anxiety. Then, reflect on what that anxiety is about.
The reason behind that anxiety might be that you’re excited to meet this person. And—reflecting on observing—it’s essential to realize you’re going to fumble your words or say something that might not land exactly how you intended.
But that’s how authentic conversations go. This isn’t a podcast. This isn’t a job interview. It’s an opportunity to have a dialogue, to go back and forth, and to leave space—not only for yourself to share more but to learn more about the person you’re with. It’s about being curious about them.
Ultimately, it’s about being able to express yourself in a more effective and meaningful way—so that connection can be built.
For the person who recognizes that their date is probably experiencing some anxiety, you can open the door for vulnerability by saying something like, “Hey, first dates—jitters, right?” or, “I’m excited and feeling nervous too.” By doing that, you’re acknowledging that this is a shared human experience, not something that only the other person is going through. You’re naming it for yourself as well.
Also, offering your date grace if you notice signs of anxiety matters. Pay attention—are they fidgeting? Do they seem disengaged from where the conversation is going? Notice their body language and see if there’s a way to shift the energy. Consider suggesting a walk or changing the topic to something lighter and more engaging.
There are ways to break through that anxiety and hopefully uncover the chemistry beneath it.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/25
Emma Hathorn is a Dating Expert at Seeking.com, specializing in online dating, luxury relationships, and modern dating trends. She offers insights on age-gap dynamics, dating safety, and emotional connection. Frequently featured in major media outlets, she helps singles navigate relationships with clarity, confidence, and elevated standards. Hathorn discusses modern dating trends, including increased intentionality, declining marriage rates, and evolving relationship norms. They explore emotional hope, societal pressures, the timing of physical intimacy, and learning from failed dates. Hathorn emphasizes personal happiness, authenticity, and adaptability as keys to navigating today’s complex dating landscape with confidence and grace.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Do you feel that people are more intentional about dating now? That it has become more of an “event”? At the same time, long-term institutionalized relationships like marriage are declining. Do you think people are looking for some middle ground—like dating for five years and then opting for a renewal instead of a lifelong commitment?
Emma Hathorn: I do not know. I think people still go in with hope—that there is a soulmate connection waiting out there for them. Even though we are quite jaded and overexposed to media and dating culture, there is still a deep-rooted hope.
From what I have seen—especially through Seeking—that hope is real. Seeking has rebranded, and it’s interesting because the founder met his wife through the platform. They got married, and he waived his right to a divorce. They’re married permanently now.
Jacobsen: That’s powerful. He eliminated his exit strategy.
Hathorn: I love that there’s still romance in the idea of forever. I love that hope—what if this is the right person? What if you can grow together and adapt to life’s many changes? And I think that’s the dream.
Jacobsen: So, you can kind of grow old and die together like The Notebook.
Hathorn: Yes, that’s how it should be.
Jacobsen: Isn’t that the ideal? Although The Notebook felt like it had half a dozen different endings.
Hathorn: Wait, which one?
Jacobsen: The Notebook. It kept trying to end—just pick one!
Hathorn: Stop breaking up the emotional momentum.
Jacobsen: It was a good movie, but seriously—I wasn’t asking the woman what she wanted; I was asking the film: What do you want? What were you doing, movie?
Hathorn: I think because we’re constantly exposed to overwhelming media, especially online—so much negativity, so much noise—it’s comforting to believe that something good is still possible. That maybe there’s someone who complements you perfectly. I think people still go into online dating with that hope, and that’s what makes it exciting.
Jacobsen: What’s your favourite part about giving relationship advice?
Hathorn: Honestly, I just love talking to people. I’m naturally curious. I’ve always been fascinated by relationships. How people connect is endlessly interesting to me.
Jacobsen: What about people who face external judgment? Say their family or society disapproves of who they’re dating—whether it’s due to religion, politics, ethnicity, age gap, education, or finances. How do people navigate those social or cultural barriers?
Hathorn: That’s one of the hardest situations to navigate. You can’t live your life for other people. No matter how much you care about them—even if they believe they have your best interests at heart—they’re projecting their values onto you. At some point, you have to prioritize your happiness.
Unfortunately, there aren’t always structures in place to protect individuals who deviate from those expectations, and many suffer as a result. Some even avoid pursuing a relationship and end up questioning what might have been. That decision—whether to take the risk—can only be made by the individual in that context.
Even in something as simple as an age gap relationship, women hear things like, “He’s far too old for you” or “You’recrazy.” But if you connect with someone, that’s what matters. It is your decision.
It’s a society that’s shaping the perception of that person—and of you for being with them. But ultimately, you should choose yourself. That takes courage. The same goes for queer relationships, which are still heavily stigmatized in many places.
There’s not always a clear path forward. You either go for it, or you don’t. You could keep it a secret, but that usually ends up causing more harm than good.
Jacobsen: I think that’s why American gay men tend to be often so self-assured.
Hathorn: Yes, because they had to fight for it. They’ve claimed it.
Jacobsen: I am not an expert in this, but let’s say someone goes into a date with the kind of intentionality we’ve been discussing. The date goes well—they’re both attracted, there’s chemistry—and they go back to one of their places. Things escalate. Should that be a consideration if someone’s looking for a long-term connection?
In other words, if someone has a conscious path toward commitment or something serious, should physical intimacy on the first date be seen as a barrier? There’s so much advice out there—”Make them wait 90 days,” or “Don’t have sex until…”—but rarely any rationale behind it.
Hathorn: Ah, I see. Yes—about whether people should “wait.”
Jacobsen: Should people follow that advice? Or is there any real basis for it? How should someone navigate that moment if they feel a strong connection and are also looking for something long-term?
Hathorn: I don’t believe there’s a one-size-fits-all answer to that. It depends on the connection. If things unfold naturally and both people are on the same page—why not follow that energy and see where it goes? Sometimes, people do connect quickly, and the chemistry is undeniable.
Don’t deny yourself an experience just because of some arbitrary rule like “start fast, end fast.” That’s not universally true. It depends on the connection, the communication, and the mutual respect between two adults.
I am not saying “love at first sight” is always real, but powerful connections can absolutely happen on a first date—and sometimes they include physical intimacy. Flexibility and open communication are essential. Make sure it aligns with both of your boundaries. You’re adults—you should be able to decide that without imposed timelines.
Jacobsen: What’s another great quote you like?
Hathorn: I only have the one I already shared—that’s my favourite.
Jacobsen: Just one? That’s like a very sparse fridge.
Hathorn: There’s a Japanese word that comes to mind—one that’s often used in dating: shogunate. It means “let it be” or “it can’t be helped.” It’s like saying, “Shake it off.”
Jacobsen: Like Taylor Swift—Shake it off.
Hathorn: That’s a helpful mindset to bring into dating. If you have a bad date, just go, “Ah well, it happens.”
Jacobsen: It’s not a reflection on you, not necessarily on them.
Hathorn: Precisely. It’s going to happen.
Jacobsen: The crazy thing is—it’s not necessarily anyone’s fault. It’s a good lesson. There’s always something to take from a bad date. But we should not be overly optimistic and pretend a bad date is not unpleasant—it often is, by definition.
Hathorn: A bad date is just that—a bad date.
Jacobsen: Like a bad day. It is kind of “cringe-light.”
Hathorn: Yes! Cringe light is the perfect way to put it. But you know what? It tells you exactly what you do not want. You walk away thinking, “Okay, I’m never going to say that again,” and you aim to do better next time.
Jacobsen: That’s a really good insight—it tells you what you do not want. So even a bad date can be educational.
Hathorn: Sometimes, the thing that made it a bad date was something you originally thought you did want. But then you experience it in context and realize, “Actually, this doesn’t work for me. That felt off.”
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Emma.
Hathorn: Thank you so much. It was so nice meeting you—it was such a good conversation.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
Share this:
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/24
Emma Hathorn is a Dating Expert at Seeking.com, specializing in online dating, luxury relationships, and modern dating trends. She offers insights on age-gap dynamics, dating safety, and emotional connection. Frequently featured in major media outlets, she helps singles navigate relationships with clarity, confidence, and elevated standards. She discusses modern dating, exploring cultural sensitivity, emotional intent, and shifting social expectations. Hathorn shares a Zora Neale Hurston quote to illustrate love’s adaptability, emphasizing self-awareness, mutual respect, and meaningful connection over superficial judgments, despite changing norms around age, gender roles, and long-term commitment.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your favourite dating quote?
Emma Hathorn: I do have a quote. It’s not specifically about dating—it’s about love in general—but I think it applies.
Jacobsen: Who defines what makes a good date? Is it the person with long-term goals who spends two hours getting ready, or the person who shows up casually? What quote would you say characterizes a good first date for someone genuinely looking for love?
Hathorn: The quote is broader, but here it is: Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, “Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from every shore it meets.” It changes with every new shore.
Jacobsen: That’s a poetic and insightful quote.
Hathorn: I love Zora. I think it’s important to approach dating knowing that not every experience will lead to something long-term, but each person brings something valuable. You’re meant to learn something from every connection.
Jacobsen: What about dates where there seems to be nothing to learn?
Hathorn: Don’t go on those. You shouldn’t. You have to know what you’re looking for and what you want. You need to be intentional before even agreeing to meet.
Jacobsen: How do you make the date planning and screening process culturally appropriate? Japan is very different from South Africa, which is different from Canada or Iceland.
Hathorn: That’s so true. You have to be open-minded, make sure there’s mutual respect, and that you can communicate clearly beforehand. Cultural sensitivity starts before the first date—it’s about curiosity and consideration.
Someone has to be able to speak at least some of the language the other person speaks—otherwise, the conversation will be limited. But I think that also comes in the pre-planning. Make sure you have a good rapport over text, have a quick phone call, and see if there’s a spark—something that makes you want to talk to them more.
Culturally, dating across backgrounds can be really challenging, but it’s also incredibly rewarding if you approach it with humility. You’ll never know everything, but you can learn a lot. You’ll likely walk away with more than you brought to the experience.
Jacobsen: Why are some people so risk-averse that they do not even try to go on a date—even if they want to? They see some bad news story or binge a British crime drama and say, “You know what? No.”
Hathorn: Well, fortune favors the bold. People tend to be more successful when they step outside their comfort zone. That said, I have mixed views about staying in one’s comfort zone. I do not think there is much value in being deeply uncomfortable in a dating scenario—unless it’s part of natural growth. Some personalities throw themselves into new situations without fear, and I think that’s admirable.
Jacobsen: Like docu-comedies such as Jackass—they’re built around that idea.
Hathorn: Then you have people who just do not want to leave the house—it happens. Online dating can really help in that case. If someone has anxiety around dating, they can start building rapport online. Share hobbies, have conversations—it makes meeting in person much less intimidating. You also arrive with shared interests and conversation topics—you’re more prepared.
Jacobsen: Often there are sensationalized, Daily Mail-style headlines about dating. It gets attention because dating is something almost everyone does. Everyone has been on a bad date. Most people have had average or good dates. But the media loves overblown stories. I say this as a journalist—there’s often a press motive here.
We see headlines like “Two-thirds of men under 30 aren’t dating,” or something to that effect. The data may be technically accurate, but it’s often framed in a way that fuels panic. Some women date women more frequently now, so that shifts the dating pool. Similarly, men may be dating men. Among younger adults, the gender split in dating is complex.
Could the loosening of age-based screening criteria be part of the story? Are we seeing a change that is being misinterpreted or overhyped in the media just to drive clicks?
Hathorn: Absolutely. That leads to the broader age gap conversation. People today are much more flexible about age than they were in the past—especially women, who are more open to dating older men.
It’s becoming less about the number and more about the individual and the connection. Expanding your criteria—whether that’s age, culture, or anything else—can only help. If you’re genuinely interested in meeting people, welcoming diversity is a really positive mindset to have.
I’ve noticed that people are going on fewer dates, but they’re approaching them more seriously. I think many are tired of frivolity in dating. There’s a lot of disillusionment, especially from swipe culture. People are exhausted—it’s become so shallow and appearance-based. It’s a quick judgment: “No, not for me.”
It’s depressing. The process becomes about instant gratification—getting swiped on gives you a small serotonin hit. But I think more people are now turning away from that and trying to find something meaningful, something beyond feeding the algorithm.
Jacobsen: Is the issue internal, like within the dating rituals or age gap dynamics? Or is it more about the person—something more fundamental than age?
Hathorn: I think there’s definitely social pressure to date within your own age group. That judgment disproportionately falls on women. For example, if a woman dates someone 30 years older, people react harshly without considering the actual connection between the individuals.
We overlook the fact that someone at 25 might have lived in several countries and accumulated a wealth of experience. They may have more in common with an older partner who’s done similar things over a longer timeline.
Jacobsen: Right—like the children of diplomats or ambassadors.
Hathorn: Exactly. They’ve lived all over the world, and when they choose to date someone older, it often makes sense based on shared experiences.
Jacobsen: When it comes to mating, dating, or having children, that’s one realm. But marriage—historically and even today—has often functioned as an economic arrangement. For centuries, and particularly for women, marriage was tied to being considered property. That’s still true in some parts of the world. In earlier periods, property didn’t just mean land or goods—it extended to people. Over time, subjectivity became recognized—eventually tied to voting rights and personal agency.
Fundamentally, marriage has always had an economic and social dimension. It was, and often still is, about structuring social strata. In British society, for instance, marriage has long carried that function. In India, it may be framed more cosmically or karmically, especially under the caste system. But regardless of how it’s expressed—spiritual or secular—the economic base is often still there.
Jacobsen: I think what we are seeing is that as the economic system changes—definitions of “breadwinner” and what qualifies as a job—social structures like marriage and family are evolving too. Our genetics have not changed, but the framework around us has. As the frame changes, the arrangements shift accordingly.
It is different from declaring a crisis, like “the crisis of men” or “the crisis of single women.” That kind of language exaggerates things. How do you see people adapting their perspectives as the very definition of marriage and the family unit shifts along with these economic and social changes?
Hathorn: Yes, absolutely. There is much more equality now. From the context of Seeking, we often talk about hypergamy, which has historical roots in India. Traditionally, it referred to marrying up in social or economic status, often gendered.
What’s interesting today is that gender is being taken out of that model. A hypergamous relationship in a modern sense is about both partners bringing different strengths and supporting each other—emotionally, economically, intellectually.
The shift in social and economic roles—especially between men and women—has created opportunities for people to connect in ways that go far beyond economics. One partner might be the breadwinner while the other contributes emotional stability, creative energy, or household organization.
Jacobsen: Or even seasonally—it could shift over time.
Hathorn: That kind of flexibility is important. One might provide financially while the other offers emotional grounding, curiosity, and new ideas. It becomes a dynamic balance.
This shift allows people to explore healthier, more equitable relationship dynamics. In the past, gender roles were rigid—men worked outside, women stayed at home. Now, we see relationships forming between whole human beings rather than rigid gendered archetypes. That gives me some hope for the future.
Jacobsen: Are people thinking about these dynamics even before a first date? It seems like there’s a lot of weight attached to the experience—almost to the point that it creates anxiety. Do you think people bring this psychological burden into first dates, making it harder to connect authentically in the moment?
Hathorn: I think it’s something people carry with them, but ideally, it should remain in the background—not dominate the date. We are all conscious of our place within the broader social dynamic. Women especially have always been attuned to this, not just in passing but as a constant awareness.
However, there’s also freedom in that awareness. You’re entering a date as a full person—not necessarily looking for someone to financially support you, but for someone who complements you emotionally. That sense of balance and mutual support is key. Still, it depends on the couple. Each dynamic is unique, and what works for one may not work for another.
This isn’t something we should overthink during a date. You need to go in with a free spirit and an open mind—just see who you’re meeting. People are complex.
That said, I do think most people have this kind of background consideration, even if they’re not fully conscious of it: What do I bring to the table? What do I hope my partner brings? It’s healthy to acknowledge that.
It also helps to know yourself well—what you want long term, and even just what you want out of the date itself. Being deeply self-aware usually leads to a better experience.
Jacobsen: How should people negotiate the place, time, and location of a first date?
Hathorn: That should be straightforward—just based on mutual preferences. What do you enjoy doing? Where do you like to go? Everyone has their favorite spots. It’s something worth discussing beforehand: What’s your ideal date? Where do you like to go?
Jacobsen: Let’s try that out.
Hathorn: Exactly! It’s a fun conversation starter. Ask: What would be your dream date? Then work from there. You want to avoid awkward or unpleasant places, and you want to make sure the person you’re inviting is going to have a great time.
Jacobsen: That’s a whole other topic—just bad dates.
Hathorn: Yes, exactly.
Jacobsen: Like something out of a reality TV show.
Hathorn: Right—dragging someone around a shopping mall or to an anime convention on day one.
Jacobsen: Japan might love that.
Hathorn: Personally, I’d love that—but still!
Jacobsen: Do you find there are any cross-cultural “nos”? Things that generally do not go over well on a first date—either in a specific culture or broadly?
Hathorn: I can only speak from personal experience—Japan and South Africa, since I’ve lived in both.
Jacobsen: That’s actually a good range: one largely homogeneous, the other more diverse.
Hathorn: In Japan, for instance, you need to be more polite than you might expect. You cannot be too forward in public—it’s just not done. You really have to be hyper-aware of the cultural context, especially when you’re outside your own culture. Be respectful and polite—“when in Rome,” as they say. Try to take the cues.
It helps to learn a little beforehand. You’re going to miss small cultural cues—that’s inevitable—but it’s better to mess up with genuine intent than not to care at all. Sometimes, those little mistakes can even become a great conversation point: “Oh, you’re not supposed to do that here.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
Share this:
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): A Further Inquiry
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/07/23
Academic freedom includes… Freedom to express one’s opinion about the institution, its administration, and the system in which one works… Freedom from institutional censorship…
Post-secondary educational institutions serve the common good of society through searching for, and disseminating, knowledge and understanding and through fostering independent thinking and expression in academic staff and students… These ends cannot be achieved without academic freedom.
All academic staff must have the right to fulfil their functions without reprisal or repression by the institution, the state, or any other source… contracts which are silent on the matter of academic freedom do not entitle the employer to breach or threaten in any way the academic freedom of academic staff…
Academic staff must not be hindered or impeded in exercising their civil rights as individuals, including the right to contribute to social change through free expression of opinion on matters of public interest. Academic staff must not suffer any institutional penalties because of the exercise of such rights.
Canadian Association of University Teachers, “Academic Freedom: CAUT Policy Statement” (April 20, 2025)
Dr. Frances Widdowson earned an Honours BA and MA in political science from the University of Victoria and a PhD in political science from York University. She worked as a policy analyst in the Northwest Territories. She developed an interest in Indigenous culture in Canada and what she called Canada’s “Indigenous industry.”
Academic Tenure and the Rise of a Controversial Voice
She joined the Mount Royal University Department of Economics, Justice and Policy Studies in 2008, earning tenure in 2011. She taught courses in political science and comparative politics with focus on policy analysis. Her case represents a broader clash between evolving institutional norms of conduct tied to equity and academic freedom.
As with many universalist claimed values, the praxis is the real test, because these values clash in real life. The balance of values is tested in real-life cases, sometimes individual persons. The focus will be Dr. Widdowson and the case at Mount Royal University.
With a career as a policy analyst and tenured professor at Mount Royal University (c. 2011), Dr. Widdowson was critical of “woke” movements and Indigenous policy. She provided open critiques of Indigenous research paradigms. The most notable period was 2018. A Twitter (now X) dialogue, heated debate. This led to harassment complaints.
In February, 2018, she publicly questioned traditional Indigenous research methods at Mount Royal University. She made the argument: certain approaches prioritized funding over community needs. This drew strong criticism. Some labelled Dr. Widdowson with the epithet “racist.” Columnist Barbara Kay defended Dr. Widdowson as an academic challenging accepted narratives about residential schools. Kay framed the critiques as probing rather than hateful.
The Twitter War and Institutional Fallout
Dr. Widdowson engaged in heated exchanges with colleagues during 2020. Mount Royal University labelled this the “Twitter War.” Public disputes ranged from aspects of the Black Lives matter movement, e.g., Black Lives Matter “destroyed MRU,” to more. In July, 2021, Dr. Widdowson filed a harassment complaint against a colleague’s tweets. In November, 2021, an investigation claimed the complaint was “malicious, frivolous, vexatious, and made in bad faith.” At the same time, Mount Royal University’s probe concluded Dr. Widdowson’s tweets constituted harassment. Mount Royal University dismissed Dr. Widdowson on December 20, 2021.
Mount Royal University President Tim Rahilly signed the termination letter for Dr. Widdowson. Nine satirical tweets and one complaint were cited as grounds for the violation of harassment and conduct codes. On that afternoon, after delivering an exam, Dr. Widdowson was requested by human resources. She was informed. Her employment was terminated effective immediately (then). She recalls the experience as procedurally opaque and distressing.
Arbitration, Aftermath, and the Future of Academic Freedom
Dr. Widdowson received a termination letter. 30 hearing days occurred over ten months between January 27th, 2023 and November, 2023. Eventually, it was 30 hearing days with 25 witnesses. These hearings scrutinized fairness of procedures, i.e., collective agreement compliance as well as the basis for dismissal, i.e., academic expression versus policy violations.
Arbitrator David Phillip Jones ruled on July 2, 2024: Widdowson’s tweets warranted discipline (“just cause”), while the firing was “disproportionate to her actions.” No compelling evidence was found that the conduct posed an irreparable threat to the academic environment. A letter of reprimand was substituted for the two-week suspension, but reinstatement was deemed non-viable because of the significant breakdown in professional relationships. A monetary remedy was awarded in lieu of reinstatement. Dr. Widdowson has expressed satisfaction at acknowledgement of wrongful dismissal. She continues to challenge aspects of the harassment findings and continues in advocacy for academic freedom.
Some might see the wrongful dismissal as evidence of tenure as not immunizing from consequences for harassing behaviour. Others may contend the dismissal represents a threat to contentious topic debate and dialogue, even heated. Dr. Widdowson has given lectures on “woke-ism.” She continues to appeal for reinstatement and persists in litigation.
The case study in academic freedom is ongoing.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): СокальINFO
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/30
Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index indicates that both Ukraine and Russia had poor corruption rankings in 2000, with Russia slightly better positioned. After the 2012 methodology change, comparable data from 2014 to 2025 show diverging trajectories. Ukraine demonstrates gradual improvement, particularly after 2022, while Russia shows consistent deterioration. By 2025, Ukraine ranks higher than Russia, reflecting increasing divergence. Despite progress, both countries remain challenged by corruption, underscoring the need for sustained institutional reforms.
Methodology and Comparative Framework
Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index shows poor rankings from Ukraine and the Russian Federation more than two decades ago. Transparency International changed the methodology in 2012. So, the rankings from 2014, 2022, and 2025, are the most readily comparable metrics, while the 2000 ranking (and others near its chronology) give indications. The post-2012 trend suggests modest improvement in Ukraine and marked deterioration in Russia.
Baseline: Year 2000
Back to the year 2000, Ukraine ranked near of the bottom of the 90-country listing, i.e., significant corruption issues based on the ranking and the methodology used in that year. Ukraine ranked 87 out of 90. In 2000, the Russian Federation had better corruption ranking than Ukraine, 82 out of 90.
Early Post-2012 Comparison: 2014
In 2014, at the start of the war, Ukraine improved relative ranking within a longer list of countries while remaining on the lower end of the ranking, 142 out of 175. In 2014, Russia went down in the rankings while still in the lower-middle portions of the ranking, 136 out of 175, while still scoring better than Ukraine. By the time of the full-scale invasion or the “special military operation,” in 2022, Ukraine began to show a healthier trajectory in corruption rankings within a more comprehensive ranking, 116 out of 180. By 2022, the Russian Federation was steadily in the lower-middle portions of corruption globally, 137 out of 180.
Divergence Begins: 2022
By last year, the Russian Federation was solidly in the lower ranks of the index, 157 out of 182. Within a shorter period of time, Ukraine has continued to improve corruption rankings relative to an international metric, 104 out of 182. The indication, therefore, becomes two post-Soviet Union (15 socialist republics) nations remaining not approximately equal, but increasingly divergent in levels of corruption. As time progressed from the original annexation of Crimea into the full-scale invasion or war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the divergence took root beginning in 2022, becoming more amplified and clear in 2025.
Interpretation of Trends
From the perspective of Ukraine’s corruption levels, the healthy point is the pattern of improvement. From the perspective of the Russian Federation’s corruption levels, the unhealthy point is the pattern of more corruption. The big picture is a lower-half ranking for Ukraine and a low ranking for the Russian Federation internationally, respectively.
Conclusion
The war contrast is the increased corruption in the Russian Federation and decline in corruption in Ukraine. The lesson is a significant journey left to travel in anti-corruption efforts in a region marked by high corruption in the contemporary period.
–
More resources below:
Direct Transparency International
Fighting Corruption in Wartime Ukraine: An Interview With Andrii Borovyk
Oleksandr Kalitenko on Ukraine’s Battle for Transparency
Ukraine’s Corruption Problem Isn’t Convictions—It’s What Happens After
Broader anti-corruption / accountability
Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi: Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Reboot, Economic Security and the Shadow Economy
Anton Zelinskyi on the Judicial Reform and Russo-Ukrainian War
Legal Aid in a War Zone: How Ukraine’s Diplomatic Legal Hub Fills the Gaps
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): СокальINFO
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/11/17
How does October 7, 2023 fit into the millennia-long continuum of antisemitism—from ancient deportations and medieval pogroms to modern expulsions and postwar violence?
October 7, 2023, fits a continuum of violence against Jews across millennia. From ancient deportations (Assyria, Babylon) to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Bar Kokhba revolt, medieval pogroms, expulsions from England, France, Spain, and Portugal, the Mawza Exile, Khmelnytsky massacres, and Russian-imperial pogroms, persecution recurred, culminating in the Nazi genocide of six million. After 1945, assaults continued: the Farhud in Baghdad, Kielce, waves of expulsions across the Middle East and North Africa, Suez-era crackdowns, and Poland’s 1968 campaign. On October 7, militants murdered about 1,200, wounded thousands, and took hundreds hostage. Rising antisemitic rhetoric historically foreshadows rising violence.
October 7, 2023, was another in a long line of tragedies befalling Jewish peoples throughout world history.
Starting, at least, in 722 BCE, there was the Assyrian deportation, or the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Sargon II’s inscriptions indicate 27,290 deportees from Samaria. Over 100 years later, in 597–586 BCE, there was the Babylonian exile (Kingdom of Judah) with biblical records indicating about 4,600 deportees in three separate waves of likely only adult males; the total displaced may indicate higher.
70 CE was the siege and fall of Jerusalem. Josephus claims 1.1 million dead while modern scholars consider tens of thousands killed more reasonable and approximately 97,000 enslaved. 132–135 CE saw the Bar Kokhba Revolt. About 580,000 Jewish war dead with devastation, expulsion, and more.
1096 saw the First Crusade’s Rhineland massacres with about 2,000 Jews killed. 1348–1351 had Black Death spread throughout Europe and then the subsequent mass pogroms affect Jewish peoples across Europe. A distinct one was in 1349 in Strasbourg with approximately 900 Jews being burned (some accounts cite higher). The continental totals for this three-year period are unknown.
In 1290, a Jewish community in England was expelled with scholarly estimates of around 3,000 affected by the expulsion. In 1306, King Philip IV expelled about 100,000 Jews. In Spain in 1492, between approximately 40,000 and 160,000 were expelled and tens of thousands were converted, while precise estimates can vary by historian.
In 1497, Portugal saw a widespread series of forced conversions of Jews followed by the Lisbon massacre in 1506 with between 1,900 and 4,000 Jews killed. In 1679, Yemen produced the Mawzaʿ Exile where Jewish communities were expelled to Tihāmah. There was mass displacement and deaths en route. Precise counts are scarce.
Between 1648 and 1649, there were the Khmelnytsky (Chmielnicki) massacres in Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania. The estimates from contemporary scholarship emphasize between 20,000 and 40,000 killed in addition to catastrophic losses and the destruction of community.
1881 to 1906 saw pogroms from the Russian Empire with the 1903 Kishinev massacre killing 45–49 and wounding about 600 Jews. The definitive peak of the murders were the National Socialists under Adolf Hitler of Germany with approximately 6,000,000 Jewish children, women, and men murdered. There is ongoing name-by-name documentation. Approximately 4,900,000 have been named.
There is a misunderstanding of 20th century history. That being, the Holocaust happened and then there was non-violent treatment of Jewish peoples until the massacre of October 7th, 2023, occurred. This is false.
Between June 1 to June 2, 1941, in Baghdad, Iraq, approximately 135–189 Jews were killed and then about 1,000 injured. On July 4, 1946, in Kielce, Poland, about 42 Jews were murdered. Between the late 1940s and 1970s, from Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and so on, approximately 850,000 Jews were either expelled or left with accompanying violence and confiscations differing by country.
Between 1951 and 1952, about 120,000 to 130,000 were airlifted in Operation Ezra & Nehemiah. In 1956, in Egypt, amidst the Suez crisis, there were expulsions and arrests. In 1968 in Poland, there was the anti-Zionist campaign with about 13,000 Jews forced to emigrate.
Then the October 7, 2023, massacre happened with tolls approximated at 1,139 dead (about 1,175 initially identified), more than 3,400 wounded, and about 251 to 253 hostages taken. Numbers fluctuate as better data comes into reports. Since the war began, the Israeli government reported 14,583 physically wounded by May 26, 2024, and treated in hospitals since October 7, 2023. Therefore, the numbers are definitively higher.
Antisemitic rhetoric is on the rise. So, antisemitic violent incidents will increase in correlation.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): СокальINFO
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/11/11
Marichka Baysa is a Ukrainian fashion designer from Lviv, now based in Toronto. Her work blends traditional embroidery with Ukrainian traditions, using red-and-black palettes standard in Western Ukraine and motifs from Zaporizhzhia and the Carpathians. She incorporates folkloric symbols — motanka talisman doll, circles for life’s cycle, triangles, waves, and the kalyna guelder-rose — that encode protection and continuity. Baysa crafts customized pieces that embed personal meaning for clients from artisans to performers and has organized children’s fashion programming in Toronto. During the war, she prioritizes resilience and cultural preservation, planning future runway shows in Ukraine after victory and stabilization and diaspora admiration abroad.
In this conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Baysa explores how Ukrainian cultural identity endures through modern design. Baysa intertwines traditional embroidery and folkloric symbolism—red-and-black palettes, the motanka talisman, circles of life, and the kalyna guelder-rose—into contemporary tailoring. She explains regional embroidery distinctions from Donetsk to the Carpathians, contrasting the minimal ornamentation in children’s vyshyvankas with the denser, protective motifs in adult garments. Reflecting on wartime creativity, Baysa emphasizes resilience, diaspora admiration abroad, and her hope to return fashion showcases to Lviv after Ukraine’s victory and cultural stabilization.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There is an intense fashion scene in Ukraine. You are from Lviv, now living in Toronto, where you’ve started a new life and created a kids’ fashion week. Were any templates in Lviv the premise for work in Toronto?
Marichka Baysa: At the moment, because of the current situation in Ukraine and the major political events expected next year, fashion will not be my main priority—or anyone else’s. Arts and fashion can be the focus after we win the war, after we have a new government, and after those significant political developments. But in the future — maybe in two or three years — why not have a kids’ fashion show?
We have Ukrainian Fashion Week in Kyiv, which is traditionally held twice a year (spring/summer and autumn/winter). During the full-scale war, 2022-2023, the traditional Kyiv-based Ukrainian Fashion Week schedule was suspended. Instead, they ran “Support Ukrainian Fashion” showcases in London, Paris, Copenhagen and other cities to keep Ukrainian designers visible during the war. With the February 14–17, 2025, Ukrainian Fashion Week, it has fully returned to Kyiv. This Autumn, they also had a show in the capital – and it was terrific. I loved what I saw. Hopefully, in the future, we’ll have Fashion Week for adults and children in Lviv and other cities across Ukraine, but that will come once the war has ended.
Jacobsen: Are there any embroidered elements in Lviv’s culture incorporated into your work in Toronto?
Baysa: Yes, mainly red and black, very traditional in much of Western Ukraine. More precisely, though, black is the dominant colour in most traditional Lviv patterns, representing earth, fertility, and endurance. Red symbolizes love, energy, and life; often paired with black for contrast. White, as a background, represents purity and spirituality. Most shirts are embroidered on white homespun linen. Yellow and Green are used sparingly, but for accents, symbolizing wealth, harvest, and renewal.
Blue is less common, but appears in festive or modern reinterpretations for tranquillity and faith. I try to incorporate it into my designs, especially for custom pieces. For instance, I’m making one for a woman who’s a balloon artist. She creates large balloon toys. She requested a custom blazer including elements of Ukrainian culture while reflecting her profession. I’ve been combining her balloon motifs with the embroidery patterns from her region. She’s from Zaporizhzhia.
There are some distinct floral and plant motifs in that region. Grapevines, flowers (especially roses and carnations), and oak leaves are seen as symbols of strength, beauty, and family continuity. The “tree of life” appears more naturalistic and open compared to the geometric Western versions. There is Cossack symbolism. Patterns may feature swords, crosses, or stylized tridents (tryzubs) integrated subtly into designs, which reflect Cossack emblems.
There is a wide chest ornamentation. The central part of the vyshyvanka (на грудях) often features broad vertical bands. These extend across the chest in a “plastron” style, similar to the uniforms of Cossack officers. The most common embroidery technique in Zaporizhzhia is cross-stitch. There are older stitches, “Zavolikannia” and “nyz.”
These create more texture and dimensionality. Men’s shirts often used darker tones and geometric or military motifs. Women’s shirts lean toward floral compositions and brighter contrasts. Embroidery usually features large floral and geometric ornaments, with red as the dominant colour and red-and-black combinations common.
By contrast, Western Ukrainian palettes, including parts of Lviv Oblast and the Carpathian/Hutsul area, frequently use intense black with red accents and other bold tones. There’s a well-known tradition of predominantly black embroidery in the Borshchiv area (Ternopil Oblast).
Those vyshyvanka shirts are richly textured and predominantly black. According to local legend, women adopted black embroidery in mourning after devastating raids centuries ago. These pieces take a great deal of time. Regional styles reflect centuries of cross-border influences, including Polish ornamental traditions in parts of Western Ukraine. The Carpathian region has distinctive stitches and colorways. Styles vary from town to town, but the primary colours I use in my designs are red and black.
Jacobsen: What other pieces of folklore do you build into your designs, or traditionally, what would people see from folklore influencing the designs? You mentioned floral patterns as well. I’m sure there are deeper meanings there.
Baysa: Florals, many trees and leaves, lots of natural motifs. There are geometric ornaments, such as triangles and circles, that symbolize the sun. These patterns predate Christianity in Ukraine. Their meanings have evolved. Before Ukrainians became a Christian nation, people believed in many gods, primarily representing natural forces.
That’s why the meanings of those triangles, circles, and other ornaments, on vyshyvanka, even crosses, were originally different before Orthodox Christianity arrived in Ukraine. When the Church came, embroidery became more cultural and traditional; its meanings changed. You can still see symbols such as the kalyna (guelder-rose) and crosses.
There are still many circles symbolizing the cycle of life: you live, you die, and you are reborn. Life continues endlessly; the cycle cannot be broken. There are also many triangles and wave patterns. Moving south, toward Odesa or Khmelnytskyi, the ornaments change to reflect the surrounding environment, with more waves and marine themes near the sea.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions historically had beautiful vyshyvankas, though due to war and displacement, few ancient examples survive. In contrast, museums in the other areas still preserve embroidered shirts over 200 years old. Some eastern designs are said to have featured horses, a unique feature of that area.
In my own collection, one of the most striking symbols you’ll notice is the motanka doll. It’s a talisman meant to bring health, happiness, and protection. Traditionally, the motanka is made without stitches; instead, it’s wrapped and tied with thread or fabric strips. The base often contains herbs, sometimes for healing, or love, safety, or good fortune. Each doll was explicitly created for a person’s needs. That symbolism is reflected in my Lvivna collection. The motanka protects against evil forces and represents an ancient pre-Christian spiritual tradition. Its meaning varies depending on historical and regional interpretation.
Jacobsen: Given your children’s fashion line, are there design appropriateness considerations for children versus adults? Do the patterns, designs, or colour schemes change within the Ukrainian style for that reason?
Baysa: For example, with motanka dolls, there isn’t much difference between those made for adults and those made for children. But when it comes to the ornaments on vyshyvankas, that’s an entirely different story. Vyshyvankas were traditionally made individually, with personalized ornaments meant to protect the wearer, bring health, fertility, or family prosperity. Children’s vyshyvankas typically had fewer ornaments, as it was believed that God already protected children, who were the most vulnerable. As a person grew older, they became responsible for their own protection and that of their family. That’s why adult embroidery was denser and more complex, though not necessarily brighter.
It also depended on the wearer’s status and gender. For instance, male and female ornaments differed in symbols and arrangement. The embroidery essentially functioned as “written words” stitched into the fabric—personal messages encoded in an ornament. I haven’t done that for Lvivna, but I created a similar concept for another project, which you can find online. There’s even a website where you can see how your name would look rendered as a Ukrainian embroidery pattern. Some people have turned these into necklaces or phone cases. It’s a bit self-focused to have your name embroidered on your shirt, but some enjoy that symbolism.
All Lvivna pieces feature vyshyvanka-inspired embroidery, and the upcoming Christmas collection includes more traditional elements. One figure we’re highlighting is Koza Dereza. Koza Dereza (Коза-Дереза) is one of the most beloved characters in Ukrainian folk tales — a mischievous and cunning goat who tricks everyone around her. Koza Dereza is a tricky, sly goat who uses deceit and cleverness to get her way, symbolizing cunning, wit, and survival through trickery in Ukrainian folklore.
That figure plays a vital role in our Christmas celebrations, along with others like the chort—a mischievous devil figure.
There’s also a folk legend that will appear in Lvivna’s Christmas line. According to the tale, on a snowy Christmas Eve in a Ukrainian village, the mischievous chort (devil) steals the moon to cast darkness over the land and take revenge on Vakula, a brave Cossack blacksmith who paints holy icons. Meanwhile, the devil conspires with Solokha, a cunning witch and Vakula’s mother, who charms and deceives the village men. Amid the chaos, Vakula’s beloved Oksana playfully demands that he bring her the Tsarina’s slippers if he wants her hand in marriage. With courage and wit, Vakula captures the devil, flies on his back to St. Petersburg, meets the Tsarina, and returns with the slippers. When he gives them to Oksana, she realizes his steadfast devotion and agrees to marry him. The tale blends humour, romance, and magic, celebrating Ukrainian Christmas traditions and the triumph of love and goodness over deceit and darkness.
Jacobsen: Do people who include these protective charms in their clothing today sincerely believe in their power, or is it more of a cultural tradition they carry forward?
Baysa: Technically, most Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, but over the past five to ten years, there’s been a revival of interest in pre-Christian beliefs—our ancestral religion that worshipped multiple gods connected to nature and daily life. These revived beliefs honour deities associated with the family, fertility, and natural forces. People who follow these traditions genuinely believe in the protective power of charms.
Among very religious Orthodox families, it’s different. They may claim not to believe in such symbols, yet when asked to remove them, they often resist—saying, “No, I need it.” So even when people say they don’t believe, there’s still an emotional or cultural attachment. I’d say belief and caution coexist—it’s part faith, part heritage.
Jacobsen: Last question—when you organize fashion shows in Toronto, compared to those you’ve seen in Lviv, if you were to stage an identical show, say for children, how would the symbolism and presentation be received differently by audiences in Lviv and by the Ukrainian Canadian diaspora in Toronto?
Baysa: The reactions would definitely be different. In Ukraine, people might say, “We’ve seen this before,” because of the abundance of creativity there. Ukraine has many talented artists, designers, and dancers—nearly every city has an art or dance school. The talent is incredible. The challenge is funding and investment—time, money, and infrastructure. Many young or emerging artists struggle to grow because there aren’t enough resources. Even when they do succeed, being an artist rarely provides the financial stability that being, say, a doctor or engineer does.
There’s an overwhelming amount of art and creativity in Ukraine, but due to underfunding, much of it remains unseen internationally. Ukrainians themselves, though, are immersed in it—they experience art everywhere. In Canada, it’s the opposite. There’s a noticeable lack of artistic presence, particularly in cultural art. Yes, there’s Indigenous art, which is rich and vital, but beyond that, Canada’s mainstream art scene is relatively limited. We have icons like the Group of Seven, but for such a vast country, that’s not enough to sustain a deeply rooted cultural tradition.
The Ukrainian diaspora in Canada often comes from smaller villages and towns, and many haven’t been exposed to the full depth of Ukraine’s art scene. For them, seeing these designs and symbols on stage is breathtaking—it’s new and emotionally powerful. They see beauty and heritage. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, audiences would likely appreciate the craftsmanship but respond more critically: “It’s nice, but what’s next?” They’d expect innovation and deeper layers of artistry. That contrast captures the main difference between the two audiences.
Jacobsen: That’s wonderful. Thank you for your time.
Baysa: My pleasure.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Sokalinfo.com
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): СокальINFO
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/11
СокальINFO is a Ukrainian online news outlet that positions itself as an independent information agency with a focus on Western Ukraine. Founded in 2015, it built its reputation on delivering sharp local and regional coverage while also publishing translated or republished stories that tackle broader subjects—from political developments and financial fraud to geopolitics and culture. Its multilingual approach, with content appearing in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, has helped it reach a diverse readership at home and abroad.
In this interview, СокальINFO reflects on its origins dating back to 2011, when it evolved from modest Lviv-region coverage into a project dedicated to Western Ukraine and investigative reporting. Over time, its mission has shifted from grant-backed experimentation to self-funded journalism that exposes corruption, crypto-related fraud, and geopolitical schemes—particularly sanction evasion by Putin’s oligarchs after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Operating with a lean team of five to eight journalists and two fact-checkers, the outlet safeguards anonymity amid wartime threats to media workers. Despite a modest audience of roughly 30,000 monthly readers, its stories are widely reprinted.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Your website carries a patriotic manifesto. The purpose: “unite the community.” How was СокальINFO started?
СокальINFO: We started our fascinating journey covering news from the Lviv region, and later expanded to global news coverage in 2011. Projects changed, and over time, the main project became Sokalinfo.
Jacobsen: Has the mission evolved since its inception?
СокальINFO: Sokalinfo changes every year. At one point, the project received grants. Later, we had to earn our own money.
Jacobsen: СокальINFO focuses on “current news of Western Ukraine.” You have areas of focus on international scandals, crypto frauds, and geopolitical exposés. What drives these areas?
СокальINFO: We fight for truth, against deceit, fraudsters, and corrupt officials. This is the mission of our project, which employs from 5 to 8 people depending on the possibilities of a given month. After the mad Putin attacked Ukraine, we had to cut back our other projects and focus on exposing the evasion of sanctions by Putin’s oligarchs.
Jacobsen: Do you have in‑house reporters, editors, or fact‑checkers?
СокальINFO: Yes, we have two people who handle fact-checking.
Jacobsen: Why is editorial and publishing anonymity important during wartime?
СокальINFO: The reason is simple: after the war started, every person in Ukraine could be easily killed.
Jacobsen: Your readership spans the United States, Ukraine, the UK, and other countries. How do you measure engagement and impact?
СокальINFO: Many reprint our articles. However, the audience is narrow — no more than 30,000 readers per month.
Jacobsen: How does your organization navigate Ukrainian media laws with international hosting regulations?
СокальINFO: We comply with all jurisdictions, but we never succumb to fraudsters seeking to pressure independent journalism.
Jacobsen: Any final thoughts for others wishing to cover news or distribute republications as an archival resource in Ukraine or externally in support of Ukraine?
СокальINFO: Since the war began, Ukraine has become the most cited country in the world, and the Ukrainian language is beautiful, as is English. We want the Ukrainian language to someday become international within reasonable limits. And it will, because more than 20 million Ukrainians live in 50 countries worldwide.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The New Enlightenment Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/11
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Volodymyr Pavlov (Translator, English-Ukrainian)
How do Ukrainian journalists understand superstition, grief, and mental health during wartime?
“Supernatural belief for us is support for mental health, while for them it is a search for a solution, as if someone else will do it for them.” – Anna Chernenko
Anna Chernenko is a Ukrainian journalist working in Kharkiv, reporting on wartime conditions, media transformations, and civilian life under threat. She has documented the shrinking journalism sector, risks faced by reporters, and evolving safety practices. Her work reflects the human and professional impact of sustained conflict on Ukraine’s media landscape.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Anna Chernenko and Volodymyr Pavlov about wartime journalism in Ukraine, focusing on how religion, superstition, and supernatural belief function as emotional supports amid grief, fear, and uncertainty. Chernenko contrasts Ukrainian coping with Russian passivity, while warning about scammers exploiting vulnerable people. Pavlov adds field-reporting examples and reflections on depression, randomness, and survivor’s guilt. The discussion links media ethics, psychology, trauma, and civic resilience under war.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So a sociological question: on obscure and subtle social and psychological phenomena, do levels of religious, superstitious, and supernatural belief sometimes change or intensify in both Russia and Ukraine during war? On the Ukrainian side, some of this is used for coping with grief and for resilience. It provides routine. On the Russian side, it seems more like superstition. On the Ukrainian side, I understand it differently.
There is a need for a sort of anchoring of oneself. To have empathy for an individual who is coping with the death of someone and using this to cope is not to endorse the supernatural idea. I do not believe we have evidence for the supernatural. However, I understand that, in the short term, these coping mechanisms can be healthy. In the long term, they may not necessarily be, as a personal opinion.
It functions as an emotional anchor for people. I am a humanist and a scientifically oriented person, so I see no evidence for the supernatural. For someone to believe they will be reunited with their loved one in the afterlife, I understand the comfort that belief brings. However, empathy for the person does not in any way endorse the empirical claim.
In Ukraine, I understand there is a significant level of religious belief and superstition both before and during the war. There are interesting dynamics in both Russia and Ukraine regarding the effect of war on supernatural belief. So, the question is interesting, and I sometimes think about it:
What are your thoughts about the divergences between Ukrainian and Russian society and the use of superstition and supernaturalism to cope with and/or comprehend the war, to give it meaning and structure? These are non-scientific beliefs, and they may be false, while still providing a framework for coping with tragedy and death if believed. Many Ukrainians and Russians are religious believers and/or harbour and practice superstitious beliefs.
Anna Chernenko: There is always something close to the supernatural. Not everyone believes this, but during the war, this belief has been preserved and, in some cases, strengthened.
We Ukrainians have always had some inclination toward belief in the supernatural and religion. Of course, not everyone. But during the war, this belief has become more widespread, including beliefs in the supernatural. This is a way to avoid emotional stress from difficult-to-deal-with problems.
Ukrainians have been attracted to belief in the supernatural and religion, though not everyone in the population has been. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, belief in the supernatural has increased and intensified. This often helps some people deal with emotional stress.
This helps the psyche. This is the first part, a small part. So, we Ukrainians have always tended to a certain belief in the supernatural and religiosity. Of course, it does not apply to the entire population. But with the onset of the full-scale war, this belief in the supernatural intensified. I often think about this. For some people, it is a way to cope with certain emotional burdens and support the psyche.
I know a few people who ask certain mystical individuals what they should do. Emotionally, when people are searching for answers, there are also frauds, of course, and certain demands for money from people in such emotionally vulnerable times.
I personally know several people who, from time to time, ask questions of such mystical persons. I remember them asking when the war would end. A person needs to know a certain date, or more precisely, to believe in a certain end, and then it becomes easier for them to bear all the burdens they have now because of the war. People are looking for missing persons, and finding what they are looking for is also a form of emotional relief. There is also fraud here, of course, as well as corruption and the extortion of money from people. This affects those who are emotionally vulnerable at such a time.
Jacobsen: Yes, one hundred percent.
Chernenko: As for the differences between Ukrainians and Russians, I know that, before the beginning of the full-scale war; there was a strong belief in the supernatural in Russia. It was also a business. In Ukraine, there were also some fluctuations, though not as significant. The main difference is that we, emotionally, look for support, while they look for a solution. They may hope that something supernatural will act on their behalf. This is manifested at different levels. They can protest against what is happening in their country. In our mentality, we also protest.
Accordingly, supernatural belief for us is support for mental health, while for them it is a search for a solution, as if someone else will do it for them. That is my idea. They are simply looking for a solution, so that someone can do something for them, and this was the case before. We are looking for support for our nervous system. This is manifested at different levels. For example, Russians either fail or have stopped protesting against certain things. They look for a quick solution in the supernatural and religion, so as not to act on their own. They are looking for a simple solution in the supernatural and religion. We are looking for support.
Jacobsen: Which topics are taboo in Ukrainian journalism?
Chernenko: It is a complicated question.
Jacobsen: Some reactions have been strong. Earlier, I avoided these topics. Now, I take a more academic approach. This is data. It tells me something about the country’s pulse. So I carefully ask about superstition and religion. I see no evidence for the supernatural. However, in war, people cope in different ways, and that calls for empathy. At the same time, one does not have to abandon empirical truth.
Sometimes there is no hope. Objectively, people die, and from an empirical standpoint we can verify death, but claims about an afterlife remain unverified. There is no broadly accepted empirical evidence in favour of an afterlife, which does not by itself constitute a disproof. At the same time, when a person is suffering, both realities can be acknowledged. These are not incompatible.
Chernenko: I cannot say that religion is like that. I cannot explain what would be taboo for journalists. It is a deep immersion in life. I understand what you are talking about, not to offend, but we do not have such taboos. I can tell you clearly: there is no clear taboo. Sometimes I work with a photographer from the United States. She said, “Never use that word.” It is like saying, “It is calm here” or “It is quiet here.” After that, something always happens.
Jacobsen: I see.
Chernenko: It is not a taboo, but I do not think religion or the supernatural is taboo if we speak about it as a topic of work in journalism. It is more often presented as the subject’s personal opinion. Many shows directly ridicule people’s trust in scammers connected with the supernatural. It would certainly be taboo to delve into the personal life of the deceased or their family if we are creating materials.
Do journalists believe in the supernatural? They are more likely to believe in mild superstitions and premonitions.
Jacobsen: What superstitions? What premonitions?
Chernenko: Sometimes there is a certain fear of going somewhere, for example, to the frontline, because something might happen. But I do not believe in the supernatural. I tell myself not to rely on that. Sometimes there are situations. I worked with a foreign team in Donbas, near the Serebryansky Forest. We were supposed to visit an artillery position and meet with a press officer. It was a foreign team.
Volodymyr Pavlov: It was a fairly large media group. We were in two cars. We took a route, and a soldier guided us as we began our trip. The first time, the second car in our convoy missed the road in the village before the forest. The second time, the car got stuck on a pontoon bridge.
The third time, we were stopped again. Our second car got stuck on a wooden bridge, like the kind made from cut logs. We found soldiers, and they helped us remove the car. About fifteen meters later, the same car got stuck again in the same way. The soldiers laughed, but they helped us.
Then, around the sixth or seventh time, the rain started. The roads became very muddy. If we had continued, we would have gotten stuck, so we cancelled the filming.
Chernenko: So, it is not supernatural, but something stopped us at least six times. I am lucky so that nothing will happen. Nothing has happened yet.
Jacobsen: We all, or most of us, understand that not every bullet that is fired or missile that lands hits its intended target. It is sometimes random, and people are killed.
Yet, similarly, we sometimes do the opposite in everyday life during war. We think that everything must have meaning, that the person deserved it, or that we are somehow excluded from the rules of war.
Chernenko: Not every rocket that flies has a specific target. Sometimes it hits randomly. Do not think that you deserve it. Every human deserves to live as long as possible. Unfortunately, we have seen many children killed who clearly deserved to live many happy years.
Jacobsen: For a person who thinks critically, the idea that they “deserve” such events is depressing.
Pavlov: Yes, sometimes older people think this way, that perhaps they deserve what is happening, or that it had to happen to them. But in most cases, this is a symptom of depression. People who can think critically understand that this idea is not correct.
Jacobsen: Yes, and people also experience survivor’s guilt. Some will think, “Why me, why me?” Others, with survivor’s guilt, those who survived when loved ones or others close to them died in the same event, may think in more rational terms.
Chernenko: That is an interesting topic. It is complex and makes your mind work from different perspectives.
Jacobsen: We know statistically that some percentage of the population develops cancer over the lifespan, even children. So why not me? If you get cancer, statistically, it happens.
Chernenko: We hear about this from the military, from those who lose their comrades and friends. This is not about the supernatural or religion; it is about conscience and the psyche. Many Ukrainians needed psychological support after the beginning of the full-scale war. This is about our nature, about emotions and mental health.
Pavlov: In 2013, I worked with Mika Volvend’s team in France. There were 55 or 56 people, and only two spoke French. We worked all day and returned around 9 p.m. to where we were staying. We went to McDonald’s because it was the only place open where we could buy dinner at night.
For 55 people, they ordered everything. It was wild. Big portions, big orders. It was much easier then.
Jacobsen: The important thing now is that not everyone needs to speak another language, but everyone can communicate with technology and access to the internet.
Chernenko: We often see this feeling of guilt as journalists when we film scenes of tragedy, when someone in a family dies. We hear about it from soldiers who have lost comrades and friends. This is not about the supernatural or religion. It is about conscience, the psyche.
Ukraine already needs psychological support and will continue to need it after the full-scale war ends, because these issues must be addressed. It is not about the supernatural, but about emotions and mental health.
Jacobsen: If we are dealing with psychological support and mental health, this leads to the question of why people turn to religion and the supernatural.
We know that in some societies with strong social infrastructure, such as daycare, healthcare, pharmacare, free education, and reduced costs for post-secondary education, the number of religious believers often declines on average, though this is a correlation-heavy pattern rather than a simple law. Among those who still believe, adherence to religious tenets and attendance at institutions such as synagogues, temples, churches, and cathedrals also can decrease. Even among believers, commitment is often less intense. For example, Sweden has a large proportion of the population with little or no active religious affiliation, and Pew has reported that 52% of adults in Sweden are religiously unaffiliated.
The idea of state atheism, as in the Soviet Union or in contemporary China, is another form of official state ideology, but one based on political dogma. It reflects a similar structural dynamic from a political perspective.
When these indicators decline in contexts with strong social support, it raises questions about Ukraine during the war. People may be turning to faith and superstition because there are insufficient psychological and material supports to help them cope empirically and naturally.
In this sense, faith and superstition can function as placeholders. This is why one can have empathy for individuals as a subjective reality while maintaining a scientific perspective as an objective framework. In the short term, these mechanisms may be understandable and even helpful; in the long term, they may not necessarily be.
Chernenko: This raises the question of Ukraine during the war. People may turn to belief when psychological support is insufficient. To address individual challenges, people need to understand reality. Faith and self-confidence can be useful in this context.
We have some volunteer and faith-based programs that aim to support people’s mental and psychological health. But we do not have a strong culture of going to psychologists. That is why, under these conditions, we have a great deal of religious support and supernatural support.
We have some volunteer and state support, but it is not enough. Secondly, we do not have a culture of seeking help from psychologists. We have a history in which seeking psychological help was not common, and that is partly because of the Soviet Union.
There is also the issue that when a person turns to a psychologist, they are sometimes laughed at. All of this has stayed within us. There is no culture of going to a doctor for issues such as depression. This was also seen as abnormal. Only now are we realizing that this kind of support is normal. In this sense, religion can function as a psychological support.
I want to give an example. Once we were in a religious temple. Among the people who went to the priest was a woman in the last months of pregnancy whose husband had died. Religion helped her. Why did she not go to a psychologist? She did not want to, she did not know where to go, and she did not trust it. But religion was available.
So, during the war, any way to escape problems may seem normal. But there are also harmful manifestations, such as people being deceived by charlatans. This is the other side of the supernatural, unfortunately, and their number is increasing. I have a friend who visited a kind of service. I was there too. It was with tarot cards. Before, I did not think much about it, because many people support these beliefs. But after this, I began to notice that many people do this. We have too many people who believe in the supernatural.
We do have certain volunteer and state programs, but this is not enough. Indeed, we do not have a culture of turning to psychologists. The history of a person seeking a psychologist is still rare. There are many anecdotes about people who turn to a psychologist and are ridiculed, especially men. Men often reinforce this attitude among themselves.
We have only begun to overcome this within ourselves. There is also no strong culture of turning to a doctor for medication such as antidepressants. For a long time, this was considered abnormal. Only now are we moving toward the understanding that such support is normal, and religion often fills this gap.
Jacobsen: Yes. In Canada, it is similar. In America as well. Certain figures, such as tarot readers, often fill it.
Chernenko: I want to give one example. Once we were filming a religious holiday in a temple, among the people who regularly went to the priest was a woman in the last months of pregnancy. Her husband had died. Religion helped her cope with the grief. Why did she not go to a psychologist? She did not want to, she did not know where to go, and she did not trust it.
But religion was her support at that time. During the war, many methods may seem normal. If you escape from problems, you may avoid a psychological breakdown. But I want to return to the fact that there are many cases of fraud. Unfortunately, scammers profit from people. This is connected to belief in the supernatural, and the number of people holding this belief is increasing.
Jacobsen: What was happening with scammers before 2014? How has this changed since 2014 and 2022, especially now? What types of scammers are there? What is the scale? How do you combat it?
Chernenko: It is not only about faith and the supernatural, but also about strange things, magic, voices of saints. I have spoken to such people. As far as I know, this is not a crime under the law. I watched a video about one such person. This person was extremely disturbing.
But the internet community often ridicules this, making videos against scammers. Scammers take advantage of people’s vulnerability during the war. When the war ends and a few years pass, the situation may improve.
Jacobsen: Yes. Even in the United States, it is paradoxical. It is a country with advanced technology and scientific research. At the same time, there is a significant level of religious belief and fundamentalism. This has influenced the country politically.
Even if the war ends and conditions improve, there is no guarantee that these patterns will disappear. Most societies retain some level of these beliefs. The most realistic outcome in the near and medium term is a reduction or moderation of such tendencies.
Unfortunately, these beliefs can be exploited. Some people refer to such actors as “grief vampires” because they take advantage of people experiencing loss, or of those who do not fully understand that we live in a natural world. The natural world is not known to operate according to human concerns or moral desert; people care about people.
Chernenko: I like this phrase. When we talk about these issues, about the psychology of people, there is such an idea.
This war will end, and this level will decrease. It is logical. Right now, people are searching for someone, but over time, this will change. As was said, the most one can hope for in a reasonable, medium-term perspective is a decrease in these beliefs and behaviours. Unfortunately, some people take advantage of others through grief. Some call them “grief vampires.”
Jacobsen: There is also ignorance of the fact that we live in a natural world. However, I do not agree that the natural world does not care about you. That cannot be said.
Chernenko: We now have many emotions and a lot of stress. Why did I say that belief will decrease after some years? People are searching for their missing loved ones. People are trying to survive grief, and in a few years, they will return to more stable lives. Then all of this will be pushed further away from everyday life. This has already happened, for example, after the Second World War.
We will survive this. The next generation will experience less of it and live in a different world, more focused on ordinary life, games, and films. This indicator will decrease. I had not heard the phrase “grief vampire” before. It is striking. Of course, such people will remain, but in smaller numbers.
I still believe the number will decrease. This is logical because our society is quite educated. Many people are dealing with emotions and stress. That is why I said that trust in scammers and in the supernatural will decrease. A few years after the war, people will still search for missing loved ones and try to cope with grief, but eventually these experiences will recede from daily life.
We have already seen this after the Second World War. The next generations will live differently, in a calmer world. This indicator will drop significantly. The phrase “grief vampire” is interesting. I had not heard of it before. Such people will remain, but fewer than now.
Jacobsen: The phrase “grief vampires” appears in some online atheist, non-religious, and humanist commentary circles. It refers to individuals who consciously take advantage of people in emotionally vulnerable states. It is analogous to certain structured support movements, such as those that emphasize submission to a higher power. Historically, some of these movements had explicit religious foundations.
Alcoholics Anonymous, for example, grew out of the explicitly Christian Oxford Group, but AA later adopted the broader formulation “God as we understood Him” rather than a specifically Christian test of belief. This can serve as a way to shape belief at a vulnerable moment.
In North America, the use of vulnerable moments in life for social and financial gain is well documented and has a long and troubling history. Based on a principle of general human behaviour, there is no reason to think this would not appear in other parts of the world, though in different forms. War is a context in which people are deeply vulnerable, so those who exploit grief will emerge more visibly.
Chernenko: A certain percentage of people who believe in the supernatural and who take advantage of others’ trust will remain. Such people exist in society. The task of society is to help individuals leave such environments, these groups or circles where people are exploited. This is important.
They will remain, but there are more of them now. Later, there will be fewer. They will gradually move out of everyday life. However, any country that has gone through war will need time to return to normality.
A certain percentage of people who believe in the supernatural and take advantage of others will certainly remain. Society should help people leave organizations and groups that exploit human vulnerability. This is important.
These individuals will always exist. There are more of them now than there will be later. Over time, life will become more stable again, but returning to normal conditions after war will take a long time for any country.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Anna.
Image Credit: Scott Douglas Jacobsen.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The New Enlightenment Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/08
How does pseudoscience exploit fear in cancer treatment, and what distinguishes it from evidence-based oncology?
“Pseudoscience tries to imitate science, but magical thinking does not even attempt that.” – Dr. Oksana Mankovska
Dr. Oksana Mankovska is a Ukrainian molecular biologist specializing in cancer research and biomarker discovery. She serves as a research scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and as an ambassador for the European Association for Cancer Research. Holding a PhD in Molecular Biology from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, her work focuses on liquid biopsies, cell biology, and translational oncology within both academic and biotech environments.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Oksana Mankovska about cancer biology and the persistence of pseudoscience. Mankovska explains cancer as uncontrolled cell division and contrasts evidence-based treatments with fear-driven myths, magical thinking, and fraudulent “cures.” She highlights how uncertainty, cost, and emotional vulnerability push individuals toward unproven methods, emphasizing the importance of reproducibility, scientific consensus, and open science in combating misinformation and improving public understanding.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, let us talk about your experience with science, real science, and what presents itself as science but is actually pseudoscience. In your discipline, what kinds of pseudoscience do you encounter or see in public discourse?
Dr. Oksana Mankovska: I work in the field of cancer biology, and there is a lot of pseudoscience around cancer. Unfortunately, I have come to accept that it exists, because cancer is a very complex and heterogeneous disease.
It is not only complex; people are afraid of cancer. I am also afraid of cancer, because we still do not have a single solution for all cancers, and we often cannot predict how the disease will progress in a particular person.
Jacobsen: A good starting question might be: what is cancer? Then we can define pseudoscience in contrast to real science.
Mankovska: Yes, cancer is a disease in which the cells of a person’s body divide actively and uncontrollably. They undergo genetic changes, become aggressive, invade surrounding tissues, and can spread through the blood or lymphatic system throughout the body. This process is called metastasis, and metastasis is the main cause of death from cancer.
There are many different types of cancer. There are solid tumors, which are located in specific tissues, and there are cancers of the blood system. In that case, the problem originates in cells from the bone marrow.
If we talk about what cancer is, there is something I would not call pseudoscience. It is something more like magical thinking. It is not science at all. Pseudoscience tries to imitate science, but magical thinking does not even attempt that. It simply says, for example, that you have cancer because you did something bad.
Jacobsen: So, you sinned against God, or you are demon-possessed. There is no naturalistic mechanism proposed; it is all supernatural. That is an important distinction. Where does this come from in the culture?
Mankovska: I have not studied this directly, but I think it comes from things that people cannot explain and are very afraid of. It is similar to religion. I do not criticize religious people.
Jacobsen: So your clarification is that this is about supernatural ideas.
Mankovska: Yes, it is about fear.
Jacobsen: Which may or may not intersect with religious ideas. This is not about religious individuals.
Mankovska: Yes, yes. A person does not have to be religious. I mean that the roots are similar. A person is afraid of something and wants to find an explanation. It is much easier to think that it is because of your behavior or because of something bad around you, rather than to try to understand it from a scientific point of view, because that is much more difficult.
People often choose the easier way to understand. Another point is that these simple explanations offer solutions, easy solutions. Science does not do that. Science says that if you have cancer, you need to go to a doctor and use treatments like chemotherapy, and we cannot guarantee that it will work. But if you believe cancer is caused by bad behavior, you can say, “I will be a good person, and I will never have cancer.”
These are easy solutions that people, even very intelligent people, want. But unfortunately, in the real world, we do not have such certainty.
Another issue, which is closer to science, is treatments that try to imitate scientific explanations. For example, among younger people, it is very popular to listen to bloggers. Even people with some medical education sometimes misrepresent science. I have seen bloggers who claim to treat cancer with things like baking soda or potassium-based substances, which are not evidence-based, approved cancer treatments when promoted as cures.
There is no sufficient evidence-based clinical research supporting them as cancer cures. No sufficient evidence. These methods are not approved by regulatory authorities like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, yet they claim they can treat cancer this way. They try to explain it in scientific language, and people who are not scientists, who have not consulted real experts, think, “This is cheap, I can do it, and I can treat my cancer.” It seems better than going to a real doctor, paying a lot of money, and still not having guaranteed results.
These bloggers, or hypothetical figures like them, say their method will help. They also promote things like hypnosis or distant “treatments.”
I had a personal situation. I will not name anyone, but I tried to explain to a close friend, who is not a scientist, that they should not go to a certain practitioner. I knew that what they were offering was not a scientific method. But they said, “This doctor told us he has success in treatment, and he cannot reveal his method because it is his secret.”
Jacobsen: That is fraud.
Mankovska: Yes. When I tried to explain why it does not work this way, my arguments were rejected. It was a very difficult conversation, and I never returned to the topic with this person. Fortunately, they eventually went to a proper doctor, and everything turned out fine.
But even people who know me, who are in my close circle, when they are afraid, they can make irrational decisions.
I am not the best person to discuss all examples, because I do not remember all the details. But I know there were cases of professors who published clearly pseudoscientific ideas in academic work and even taught students these ideas. That was very concerning.
We have a Facebook page, something like “Pseudoscience in Ukraine”, where people share examples of pseudoscience. During COVID-19, for example, there were many strange claims.
Jacobsen: Yes, yes.
Mankovska: Some people said things like, “The sun spoke to me, it was coronavirus.” There were also anti-vaccination movements and many problems related to vaccination. Probably the most speculated and manipulated topic was where the virus came from.
Even now, we do not have absolute certainty. The weight of currently available evidence supports a zoonotic spillover hypothesis. Major bodies such as the World Health Organization continue to say that more data are needed.
This is connected to human interaction with nature. People move species from one place to another and disrupt natural habitats. That is always harmful for ecosystems and can contribute to the emergence of new viruses and pandemics. Not a direct cause, but it creates conditions that make them more likely.
Jacobsen: Rapid exposure and adaptation.
Mankovska: There has been a lot of scientific work to understand where this virus came from. Journals like Nature published detailed studies. Researchers analyzed genetic sequences and environmental samples, for example from markets, to trace possible origins and identify likely species involved. This view still exists.
I do not understand why they do not read the research and evaluate the evidence. And if even some scientists think this way, then what can we expect from people who are not scientists?
Jacobsen: Disagreement is normal in science among experts. What matters is the overall consensus or the weight of evidence. You can always find one scientist saying something different.
But the strongest position comes from the total direction of the evidence. That is far more reliable than quoting religious texts, reading tarot cards, or consulting horoscopes, or thinking it comes from spirits.
Running a proper experiment is difficult. Building evidence from many independent sources is the best system we have for discovering knowledge.
Mankovska: Yes, it is the best system. And overall, the system works very well. And now, in Ukraine, we have started to introduce open science principles. For example, you can publish your methods and experiments in open-access sources, and anyone can take them and try to reproduce them. This is very important for understanding reproducibility. We can also adopt methods from other laboratories. I think this is a very good development, and it is important that we have already started to introduce these principles.
Jacobsen: So, to conclude, science, regardless of where it is done, should produce consistent results if the same methods are followed. It does not matter who performs the experiment. If the procedure is correct and the methodology is comparable, you should generally obtain similar evidence. If not, disconfirming evidence is also valuable.
Mankovska: Yes, that is why scientists do not like certain methods. Some methods are very complex and not easily reproducible, even within a single laboratory. Between laboratories, it becomes even more difficult. Scientists tend to avoid relying on such methods.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Oksana.
Image Credit: Scott Douglas Jacobsen.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The New Enlightenment Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/07
How does Ed Buckner view leadership transitions, secular cooperation, and the future of atheism in an era of Christian nationalism?
“We must focus on improving humanity and, in our case, doing so without religious domination.” – Ed Buckner
Ed Buckner is a prominent advocate for secularism, former president of American Atheists, and past executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. With decades of experience, Buckner emphasizes the importance of nurturing future leaders and recognizes the need for unity in the secular movement while acknowledging differences. He believes in focusing on improving humanity without religious dominance. Buckner continues to share his insights through his Substack blog, Letters to a Free Country, which reaches readers worldwide. Now nearing 80, Buckner remains engaged in writing and reflection.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Ed Buckner about secular leadership, humanist cooperation, and the future of atheism. Buckner reflects on mentoring successors, distinguishing atheism-centered advocacy from broader humanist ethics, and resisting ideological purity within freethought communities. He warns against Christian nationalism while emphasizing consensus, education, and humane progress without religious domination. Nearing 80, Buckner remains active through reading, writing, and his Substack, Letters to a Free Country, reaching readers worldwide.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are here with Ed Buckner, the former president of American Atheists.
Ed Buckner: Before serving as president, I was the executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. I’ve had a varied career.
Jacobsen: So, which parts are the dark moments and which are the highlights? There are stories scattered throughout.
Buckner: I am old and have held many different roles. I am no longer involved as a representative of any organization, not even the Atlanta Freethought Society.
However, I am a life member of the Atlanta Freethought Society, the Council for Secular Humanism, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and American Atheists, among others. I maintain strong ties with many individuals in these organizations.
Jacobsen: One significant lesson I have observed in the general history of service to the community, which people often overlook, is that leadership is seasonal.
Leaders do not stay in leadership positions forever, especially when the organizations are democratic. Leaders serve terms of varying lengths and may be re-elected, but eventually, they step down and move on.
What lessons have you learned about the seasonal nature of humanist and freethought leadership, and what insights do you take from your time as a leader?
Buckner: Well, I learned early on—and it is a lesson that every leader should learn—that one of the critical responsibilities of a leader is to nurture and develop future leaders while remaining aware of the processes needed for a smooth transition of power. I have been fortunate not to be dismissed from these organizations; I have retired on my terms.
However, regardless of the circumstances, every leader needs to understand that they will no longer be in their position one day. It might seem far off, but most of the time, it is relatively near. You must adequately prepare the next generation of leaders to be as effective as you are.
Jacobsen: What insights do you take from the institutions you were part of, such as the Council for Secular Humanism and American Atheists? What distinguished these organizations during your tenure?
Buckner: Well, I’m still trying to remember that far back. I mentioned that I am old. American Atheists then—and probably now—placed more emphasis on atheism and the absence of religion. In contrast, the Council for Secular Humanism focused more on humanistic values. Over time, my personal preference has shifted more toward the humanist side of things, though I am still an atheist. I believe it is important for American Atheists to continue their work in defending atheism and advocating for the separation of church and state.
I was not part of its leadership, but I greatly admire Herb Silverman, whom you have interviewed. He dedicated an enormous effort—not just financial—to develop the Secular Coalition for America. Many people, myself included, doubted he could accomplish this, but he did, and it was impressive. The culture of secular humanism in those days, under Tom Flynn and Paul Kurtz, emphasized a reaction against the view of American Humanists that humanism is a religion. I do not think humanism is or should be a religion.
The American Humanist Association had moved past that, for sure. Formally and officially, one of the challenges they faced was their religious tax exemption. They no longer have that; although it cost them something to make the change, it was a necessary and positive step. It was the right decision, and I am glad they made it.
We, as secular humanists and humanists in general, need to understand that when we strive to change the world, we must focus on what is truly important and avoid getting caught up in minor technicalities or labels. Whether we identify as humanists, atheists, or freethinkers, we should not be so purist that it undermines our main mission. The primary goal should be advancing humanity and broadening education so that people understand how to live together and progress as a society without religion. This deserves serious consideration, but it is optional. Simply removing religion does not guarantee positive outcomes.
We must deliberate about what we want and how to move forward.
Jacobsen: In my recent interviews with various freethinkers, particularly in the United States, where there is a substantial community and many freethought organizations, I found that they tend to share unified values. While they may disagree on a handful of issues, they can become contentious, depending on the cultural climate. This can cost people friendships and professional connections.
These conflicts can divert attention away from the broader mission of many organizations. For example, even if there is a 10% disagreement—which would be substantial—that should be acceptable. In most of my interviews, people tend to agree on about 95% of issues. However, that remaining 5% sometimes reflects what I might call–not as a judgment but an assessment– the “narcissism of minor differences,” which can hinder the movement’s progress legally, politically, and socially, especially regarding equality and other essential matters.
So, what do you observe about this trend, and what would you hope for, as a point of reflection and self-critique for the community, to maintain focus on the bigger picture while acknowledging legitimate differences on certain topics?
Buckner: I have certainly observed a similar trend, and this week, in particular, as Donald Trump has just been re-elected as president, most Americans, myself included, have been focused on electoral politics. Some of what we are discussing here applies to that context as well. For instance, if an exit poll showed that short men were not supporting Trump as strongly as before, people might react with confusion. Yet, when such data is broken down by other groups, like race, region, or gender, it is often deemed crucial.
While these distinctions can matter, and I am not saying they do not, we should avoid overly focusing on them. This approach holds not only for the progressive, liberal, democratic movement that seeks to reclaim power from Christian nationalists but also for organizations like the American Humanist Association, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Atheists, and others.
We must remember that an inevitable characteristic of humanity is that we will disagree on some things. We must remember that purity of commitment to ideas is not what we need. We need strong consensus and commitment, but we also need to tolerate differences, recognize some things as trivial, and acknowledge that some issues may be important but not resolvable. We must focus on improving humanity and, in our case, doing so without religious domination. I must say, I am far more concerned about those Americans who push for Christian nationalism than I am about some religious Americans who do not. In my opinion, Christian nationalists are not even good Christians, but that’s for Christians to decide—not me.
I’m certainly not a Christian. However, the danger they pose is not just the imposition of religious values but using religion as a tool to impose illiberal political values. As a socialist, social democrat, and liberal, I find that quite alarming.
Jacobsen: Atheism does not have moral content from a philosophical standpoint. If someone assumes a theological framework in which “God is good,” then rejecting that framework could lead them to infer that atheism implies immorality, a lack of ethics, or evil—typically framed in supernaturalist terms and based on sin. However, atheism itself does not carry moral content. I understand why fundamentalist preachers often equate non-belief in God with advocating for moral anarchy or evil.
In my experience, and I have asked Herb Silverman this as well, plenty of negative stereotypes and epithets have been thrown our ways.
Buckner: Some of them quite silly. I remember going to a library in Minnesota to give a talk on whether the U.S. is a Christian nation. A woman who saw the placard approached me and said, “Why don’t you go back to Russia?” I’ve never even been to Russia. I laughed at her, which might not have been the most diplomatic response.
As an individual, I have not suffered significant consequences, even though I am a Southerner and grew up amidst the influence of Baptist culture. I haven’t experienced a notable loss of power or prestige due to being an atheist. There was a time in academia when I did not get tenure, and it’s possible my irreligion had something to do with that, though it was not overt, and I cannot be certain.
Online, I have been called names and faced some hostility, but it hasn’t seriously impacted me. We, as atheists and humanists, have much more to lose when we get caught up in the nuances of our differences in labels than we do from external attacks on our non-religious stance. The approach of J.D. Vance and Donald Trump in promoting Christian nationalism is certainly concerning to me. However, until that approach gains more ground, we have made significant progress over the past generation or two.
You interviewed Herb Silverman. I give him much credit for unifying the movement in the U.S. to a much greater extent than before. He succeeded in that, and other notable individuals are contributing significantly. For example, Alison Gill of American Atheists is a brilliant attorney who has been quite successful in fostering cooperation among organizations and proposing measures to stop certain legislation. We’ve seen some unity recently, and it has paid off. What causes that unity? Who knows?
However, American society has undeniably become more secular than it was when I was a child over 55 years ago. It’s difficult to say whether organizations were the main drivers of this change. It’s also uncertain whether Christian nationalism, especially with support from the upcoming administration, will erode some of the progress we’ve made. Still, it’s crucial to stay focused.
Jacobsen: To delve deeper, what terms or epithets have been directed at you that you recall?
Buckner: I don’t remember many specifics apart from that lady in Minnesota telling me to return to Russia. I’ve been called a commie, immoral, disgusting, and similar things. I understand what you were saying—if someone believes there is a God who commands specific actions, then not following those commands is, by their definition, immoral. It makes sense from their perspective, but I reject that premise entirely, as any reasonable person should. So, I don’t think the epithets thrown at me hold much importance.
Jacobsen: These labels often arise from creating a version of atheism within a theological framework rather than addressing the fundamental question: What is theism? Approaching from first principles is the better way to go.
Buckner: I know a preacher in the Atlanta area who, in strict confidence, admitted to me that he is a staunch atheist and does not believe in God at all. He and I disagree on whether religion is inherently beneficial. He leads a large church and believes he accomplishes good by encouraging his congregation to treat each other well, be humane, and act decently. His congregation is liberal enough not to challenge him on his specific theological beliefs too deeply.
Can religion do some good, and can religious leaders be moral forces for positive change? Yes, they can. But in the long run, it’s more likely to be beneficial if they shed the false trappings of theism and act as decent human beings and strong leaders.
Jacobsen: Last question. What does a regular day look like for you now that you’re outside the leadership stresses of those organizations?
Buckner: I drink coffee and listen to my wife read Heather Cox Richardson’s blog every morning. I do a lot of reading and writing, but it’s not high pressure. I have a Substack blog called Letters to a Free Country. It has a ‘vast, vast readership’—about 350 people or so. It’s not great; I wish it were more. However, it’s scattered across the world. I have readers or subscribers from 35 countries and 40 different U.S. states. So, I do write, although not daily.
I write twice a week. One post is typically about perennial freethought topics, such as Pascal’s Wager and other recurring questions. I usually publish those on Fridays. On Mondays, I write something more original, often unrelated to atheism. Wednesdays are typically reserved for guest essays from others. I managed to keep myself occupied. I am nearing the end of my eighth decade and will soon be 80 years old. It’s been a gradual decline into old age, and I do struggle with memory.
Your name is… Scott. I sometimes lose my train of thought and ideas, and I’ve certainly experienced physical decline. It’s natural and normal, but that doesn’t make it any more enjoyable—it doesn’t.
Jacobsen: Good. Thank you for your time and the opportunity to speak with you, Ed.
Buckner: It was a pleasure, and thank goodness you got to that last question. I was worried you were going to start grilling me on tougher topics.
Jacobsen: Excellent. Take care, and we’ll be in touch.
Buckner: You take care. Bye-bye.
Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The New Enlightenment Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/04
How does Mariia Harkusha-Omelchenko explain gene editing, evolution, cancer myths, and science communication in Ukraine?
Mariia Harkusha-Omelchenko is a Ukrainian molecular biologist and scientific staff member at YURiA-PHARM’s YP Biotech scientific center, where she works in bioengineering. Her interests began with gene editing, which she compares to text editing because small changes can transform larger systems. She previously conducted master’s research in Vienna on tumour immunology, oral carcinoma patients, and murine models before returning to Ukraine to work in biotechnology, molecular biology, and genetic engineering.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Mariia Harkusha-Omelchenko about molecular biology, gene editing, evolution, cancer myths, and science communication in Ukraine. Harkusha-Omelchenko describes how religious authority, Soviet intellectual legacies, family patterns, and poor public understanding shape non-scientific thinking. She emphasizes evidence, responsibility, curiosity, and the importance of explaining biological processes clearly to younger Ukrainians increasingly willing to question doctors, teachers, and inherited assumptions.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your name and title?
Mariia Harkusha-Omelchenko: My name is Maria Harkusha-Omelchenko. I am 25 years old, and I am a molecular biologist.
Jacobsen: What program are you in now?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: I am a scientific staff member at YURiA-PHARM, a Ukrainian pharmaceutical company, and at its scientific center, YP Biotech. I work in the field of bioengineering.
Jacobsen: What was your first interest in science and biotech?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: My first interest in science was gene editing. I like to connect it with text editing, because I write novels in my free time. I find gene editing fascinating because you can make a minor change and still alter the molecular scenario on a major scale. That was my primary interest.
Then I spent two years on a master’s project in Vienna, where I conducted research in tumor immunology. I worked with oral carcinoma patients and murine models of oral carcinoma. When I came back to Ukraine, I switched to biotechnology, where I work now. It involves genetic engineering, gene editing, and a great deal of molecular biology research.
Jacobsen: What is the biggest misunderstanding Ukrainians might have about genetics and evolution in public education or public discourse?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: Many people think evolution is a conspiracy. They think that if humans and monkeys share common ancestors, then monkeys should continue evolving into Homo sapiens. We often struggle to explain how evolution works because people misunderstand Charles Darwin and his concept of evolution. That is where science communication comes into play.
As a molecular biologist, I would say that life has a genetic and molecular basis. Genetics is one of the foundations of life.
It is also difficult to explain to people why diseases appear. They have biological and molecular causes; they are not caused by misfortune or by God deciding to punish someone. I had a very unusual experience when an older man asked me on the street about the origins of cancer. I explained that many factors can influence or trigger cancer in certain people. He said I was wrong and claimed it was caused by helminths—parasitic worms.
Jacobsen: Did he provide any other justification for his reasoning?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: No, he said, “I just know that.” I said, “No, I can prove you are wrong.” He said, “Let’s make a bet.”
So that was the conversation. It is very hard to convince people they are wrong because they already have their own version of the truth in their minds. They want to prove that you are wrong because you are a scientist—you are on the opposite side.
Jacobsen: Opposite side of what? The opposite side of understanding how the world works. Where do they get this non-scientific understanding of the world?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: I think it comes from the belief that we are not responsible for what happens in this world because there is God—God who decides everything for us. They believe in destiny. They think there are no alternative outcomes. Things happen because they are meant to happen, and we do not have the power to change anything.
And if we try to intervene, that means we are not obeying God’s rules. For me, that is strange, because I see it in terms of responsibility. As a biologist, I want to answer as many questions as possible. I think if there is a problem, there must be a solution. It is not something predetermined or fixed.
For many people, it is easier to believe that things just happen. For example, they may think war happens because of past sins or as a form of punishment. They believe we should simply endure it. But for me, it is about responsibility. I take responsibility to do research, to ask questions, and to understand the reasons behind problems. For a large group of people, it is easier to set things aside and leave them to God or other divine forces to resolve.
Jacobsen: Do they learn this at home, in church, or both?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: I think it runs in families, and it is definitely influenced by the church. At the same time, Ukraine still carries part of the legacy of the Soviet period. I do not mean that Ukrainians were naturally obedient or simply accepted authority willingly. Rather, under conditions of social pressure and political repression, many people were forced to conform to the vision imposed by the Soviet government. Over time, that survival strategy became a behavioural pattern.
When a leader says, “This is how we should live,” whether justified by religion or something else, it can feel easier to follow because there is a familiar structure and guidance. This mindset can be passed down in families, but it is also reinforced in schools—especially when teachers hold conservative views. They may not be open to alternative perspectives or new ideas, and that becomes part of the problem.
Jacobsen: I mean, is it important to convey that facts are facts in terms of empirical truth or the veracity of the natural world, while people can still hold different perspectives that may or may not be comforting as belief systems around it? For instance, if someone accepts evolution by natural selection—meaning that species change over time, explaining the diversity of life and common descent—but still holds religious sentiments, such as believing God is a guiding force, without denying evolution, is that at least workable in the Ukrainian context?
Harkusha-Omelchenko: I think most people in science—at least many of them, I am not saying all—hold a more evidence-based perspective. But I have encountered cases in my career. For example, Oksana mentioned yesterday that even in her institute, some professors believe that diseases can be treated with both pharmaceuticals and prayer.
Jacobsen: There have been hospital-wide studies on prayer, and they do not show a healing effect under controlled conditions. In some studies, patients were divided into groups: those who were prayed for and knew it, those who were prayed for but did not know it, and those who were not prayed for. The groups that were prayed for without knowing showed no measurable difference compared to those not prayed for. Interestingly, in some cases, those who knew they were being prayed for experienced slightly worse outcomes, possibly due to increased anxiety or pressure. Overall, controlled studies do not demonstrate that prayer improves recovery.
Harkusha-Omelchenko: Yes, but some people justify that by saying prayer does not work because it was not done properly.
Jacobsen: Yes, that brings us to ideas like sunk costs and rationalization. That is very true. Another point raised in discussions is that the issue may go deeper than religious fundamentalism. Dogma itself may be the underlying problem. That provides a broader framework for understanding both religious fundamentalism and political ideological dogma. For example, state atheism in the Soviet Union or under the Chinese Communist Party also involved rigid ideological systems.
Lamarckism was a form of pseudoscience. It was presented as an alternative to evolutionary theory but was not scientifically valid. It was similar to a kind of secular teleology. For example, the idea that a giraffe developed a longer neck because it needed one, and then passed that acquired trait to its offspring, rather than traits being shaped through natural selection.
Harkusha-Omelchenko: Yes, Lamarckism. It is an alternative way people tried to explain evolution—the idea that if an organism needs something, it can develop certain traits during its lifetime and pass them on. If you are asking for my opinion, I do not support this view.
I think in the Soviet Union it was convenient, because it aligned with certain ideological messages. For example, the idea that if you work harder, you can “evolve” into a higher position in society. If you take biological concepts like developing traits and apply them to social development, it can sound appealing. But scientifically, it does not work that way. Still, you are right—it was popular during the Soviet period.
Jacobsen: So, in addition, are you saying that many scientists in Ukraine are atheists, agnostics, or something similar? Or, if they are believers, they might hold a more distant, non-interventionist view of God—something closer to deism?
In that context, we can also see that just because a state promotes a certain ideology—like atheism in the Soviet Union or under the Chinese Communist Party—that does not make it scientifically true. However, individuals with strong training in science, especially in biology and evolution, are more likely to lean toward atheism or agnosticism. That is because they already have an explanatory framework that does not require divine intervention—what is sometimes called the “God of the gaps.”
Harkusha-Omelchenko: Yes, yes, that is correct. I think there are also people in the scientific community who believe in God, but I find it difficult to reconcile both positions—to accept, for example, that mutations occur in our genetic structure as human beings, and at the same time that everything was created by God. It is difficult to hold both views consistently.
Returning to the question about atheists in the scientific community, it is not that we are arrogant about our position or think our beliefs are superior because we are scientists. It is because we rely on evidence. We have evidence for natural processes—for example, the molecular basis of how life emerged on Earth. We understand molecular evolution: life began with simple molecules, and over time, increasingly complex and highly organized living organisms developed from them.
And yes, this is part of the challenge, because the scientific community is not the majority of the Ukrainian population. But I am glad that nowadays science communication is becoming more widespread in our society. People—especially younger people—are more open-minded. They ask questions. They go to doctors and ask questions instead of simply obeying. They are curious about the world they live in, and they often turn to science for answers.
That is encouraging. As scientists, we try to find the simplest explanations for complex phenomena. Yes, that is essentially it.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Mariia.
Photo by Scott Douglas Jacobsen.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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How does Dr. Serhii Huliienko assess pseudoscience, magical thinking, and scientific cooperation in Ukraine during wartime?
Dr. Serhii Huliienko is an associate professor at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute,” specializing in membrane separation, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, and process simulation. His research examines fouling, regeneration of spiral-wound modules, concentration polarization, mass-transfer resistance, BaCl₂ separation, CFD analysis, spacer design, and channel-curvature effects. Across experimental and mathematical studies, he contributes to optimizing pressure-driven membrane technologies for chemical engineering, wastewater treatment, separation-equipment design, and industrial applications worldwide more broadly.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Dr. Serhii Huliienko about pseudoscience, magical thinking, and scientific culture in Ukraine. Huliienko describes becoming more attentive to weak dissertations, “torsion field” claims, geopathogenic zones, implausible technologies, and religious or quasi-religious healing performances. He compares Soviet and post-Soviet pseudoscience, notes limited direct effects on technical work, and emphasizes cooperation among scientific groups to identify flawed claims, while wartime attacks disrupt infrastructure, equipment costs, and research communities.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So you are part of a group that discusses scientific topics as professional scientists from a wide range of disciplines, people who spend all their time working in one specific branch of science. Impressive people who know what they are talking about.
A big topic in every country, whether openly discussed or not, is the level of magical thinking, pseudoscience, or supernatural beliefs. Science deals with the natural world, empiricism, experimentation, and the scientific method.
When you come across pseudoscience or magical thinking, what do you do? What do you feel? How do you address it in this country?
Dr. Serhii Huliienko: When I started working with my кафедра, I was in a very narrow professional focus, and I did not pay attention to pseudoscience. I knew that some people had religious or anti-scientific thinking, often connected with religion, but it was not related to my work.
I began paying attention to these topics after I finished my dissertation. I defended it in 2016 and worked on it for almost seven years. At that time, it was possible to spend more time, but now postgraduate students usually have about four years.
After finishing, I became interested in the situation within the scientific community in Ukraine. In my department, scientific groups were quite separated from one another.
I found groups that analyze dissertations and identify cases of pseudoscience. There were scandals involving topics like “smart materials,” questionable quantum concepts, and other claims that did not have a solid scientific basis. Some theories were very weak, although they were presented as serious work.
Before and after the COVID quarantine, the visibility of these issues changed. The level of public attention decreased for a time, with less discussion in social networks and scientific communities. Interest in such cases returned when controversial dissertations appeared again.
There was a controversial figure who defended a PhD thesis in 2021. Later, after the full-scale invasion, he became a collaborator and was killed in Russia. His case brought attention back to the issue.
Recently, I found other examples that were surprising. For instance, teaching materials that claim to address the protection of public health from the negative impact of mobile phones, electronic devices, and so-called “geopathogenic zones,” although I do not clearly understand what those zones are supposed to be.
This was quite troubling for me, especially when such materials mentioned the reality of “torsion fields,” which I consider an example of pseudoscience. It is real technical terminology. It is used for screws. I need to translate this, I prefer to use a more precise term.
It can also be translated as “twisting” or “torsion.” In medieval catapults, torsion was used for proto-artillery. In elevators, there are torsion bolts that protect against overload. When the system tries to lift too much mass, the torsion mechanism can switch off the electric motor. That is real torsion.
But the so-called “torsion field” is presented as something like an electromagnetic field. It looks like fake science, or pseudoscience. I was very upset when I saw this in my university. That was one of the moments when I really noticed the problem.
Jacobsen: Would you say there was more pseudoscience in the Soviet Union or after it?
Huliienko: I am not so old, but I remember situations like this. My parents once took me to something like a show. I saw that it was fake, people went on stage and claimed they had become healthy after a long illness, but I could see they were being helped onto the stage.
So I decided to look at it critically, almost like a reverse show. You can see similar things today in certain religious or quasi-religious settings. I think the level of pseudoscience is at a similar level now compared to the Soviet period.
Jacobsen: There are some indications in research that supernatural belief, religious affiliation, and superstitious practices have increased in both the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In Russia, it is often occult beliefs and fortune tellers. In Ukraine, it is more traditions and superstitions that provide routine and a sense of stability during the war. So both are increasing, but for different reasons. Have you seen this affect your work or your community?
Huliienko: That is a hard question. I would not say it has a direct impact on my work. I spend most of my time in a technical environment, so it is difficult to see a strong influence.
Some people in my environment may have personal beliefs or religious practices, but I have not seen a significant impact on scientific work.
There was a person who tried to promote a technology with a claimed efficiency of about 200 percent. It is necessary to explain that such claims are not realistic. I understood that this person was trying to present himself as a serious technologist, but it was not credible.
Communication among scientific groups is important to identify and challenge such cases.
Cooperation is not very developed, as I see it in my department. Last year, I saw some movement in a positive direction. I hope it will continue to improve.
In a technical sense, we need to find a good way to define cooperation between different groups. But in our field, it is very difficult, so I need to think more about it.
There have also been direct impacts from the war. Some facilities have been attacked. A few weeks ago, there were strikes that damaged infrastructure. Oil refineries were attacked at the beginning, and many industrial objects related to my field have also been affected.
Because of this, plans have changed, including increased costs for equipment. Some important centers in the community have been damaged.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Serhii.
Photo by Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/08
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has transformed war reporting as dramatically as it has reshaped the battlefield itself. The front line is no longer a fixed boundary but a shifting web of artillery ranges, drone surveillance, and missile strikes that extend danger far beyond traditional combat zones. Journalists who travel to Ukraine to report on the war must now navigate not only the violence of the conflict but also the technological realities of a battlefield saturated with drones, electronic warfare, and near-constant surveillance.
Few people understand this new landscape better than Andrii Kovalenko, a Ukrainian local producer and executive director of the Academy of Ukrainian Press. Since the earliest days of the 2022 invasion, Kovalenko has worked closely with international correspondents, helping them report safely from some of the war’s most dangerous areas, including Kyiv, Bucha, Irpin, and the surrounding regions. His role blends logistical coordination, translation, and field production, often under conditions where security decisions must be made quickly and with incomplete information.
Kovalenko’s experience has given him a unique vantage point on how modern warfare is reshaping journalism. From advising reporters on cultural awareness and operational security to explaining how drones have expanded the “kill zone” far beyond the front line, he has become an informal instructor for many foreign journalists attempting to understand—and survive—the realities of reporting from Ukraine. In this interview, he reflects on how war reporting has changed in the drone era and why preparation, discipline, and humility are essential for journalists working in a conflict where, as he puts it plainly, no story is worth a life.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You have worked closely with many international reporters—including people like myself—who arrive with very different levels of institutional backing, financial resources, and prior experience in conflict zones. When you train journalists coming from places as varied as Western Europe, the Middle East, North America, or Latin America, how do you adapt your guidance to those different backgrounds? More specifically, how do you convey cultural context, security awareness, and practical field knowledge in ways that journalists from such different professional and regional cultures can absorb and apply effectively once they are operating on the ground in Ukraine?
Andrii Kovalenko: That is an interesting question. My focus is on giving them clear information about the country—about Ukraine, our culture, and the realities they need to understand to work here. That is the first point.
I also provide cultural context. Ukraine is a multicultural country, so coverage often depends on the people at the center of a story. The second priority is explaining the security situation through information and practical examples. Even journalists with military experience who have covered conflicts such as Chechnya, Georgia, or Iraq must adjust to this war.
For example, I worked with Süddeutsche Zeitung, a major German newspaper, and with the journalist Florian Hassel. Hassel has reported from Chechnya and other conflict zones.
This war differs from many previous wars in how much can be seen and shared in near real time, thanks to modern technology. Another difference is that Ukrainian military structures have often been comparatively open to working with both international and domestic media, with an interest in showing what is happening on the ground.
Security is another major issue, especially because of technological developments such as drones. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukrainian forces began using commercial drones—such as DJI’s Mavic line—and adapting them for reconnaissance and, in some cases, for improvised strike roles.
Later came the era of FPV drones, which significantly changed the battlefield. FPV systems used in Ukraine often cost on the order of $500—sometimes more.
This creates a significant cost asymmetry: a relatively inexpensive drone can destroy or turn off armoured vehicles that cost millions. Modern main battle tanks vary widely in price depending on the model, but many cost several million dollars, and some variants exceed $10 million.
This shift has helped shape what an era of drones and artillery looks like. Tanks have not become useless, but they have become far more vulnerable and now require different tactics, protection systems, and operational support than in earlier conflicts.
Tanks can still work, but mainly in a supporting role for infantry during offensive operations, as we saw even in 2023. During Ukraine’s counteroffensive that year, Russia had already developed its drone capabilities significantly. As a result, several Western-supplied tanks—including Leopard tanks and some Challenger vehicles—were damaged or destroyed by Russian artillery, anti-tank weapons, and drones.
So the situation works both ways. It has become a kind of technological competition—who can develop something new, or improve and evolve drone systems more quickly. One example is fibre-optic-controlled drones.
Last year, these drones could usually operate at distances of roughly one to five kilometres. Recently, after returning from the Donetsk region, I saw systems capable of operating at distances of around forty to forty-five kilometres using fibre-optic control.
This also raises serious security concerns. Russian forces often fail to clearly distinguish between targets. If they see a vehicle they believe they can strike, they may attack it. Even vehicles marked for evacuation, ambulances, or press vehicles can be targeted.
Because of this, we have increasingly stopped marking cars with “PRESS,” and in some cases, we remove press markings from bulletproof vests as well. I also advise journalists not to wear military-style colours such as camouflage or green. Clothing and protective gear should be neutral—black, blue, or other civilian colours.
Another issue relates to what we call the “kill zone.” Traditionally, the battlefield would be considered the zero line—the immediate front. Today, the kill zone can extend twenty to thirty kilometres from the front line. Cities such as Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, and Kherson can fall within this risk zone.
This danger applies to both sides of the conflict. The area is therefore much more hazardous than it was before. Even a year ago, Kramatorsk, although a frontline city, had relatively safer conditions. That is no longer the case. Now, drones operate there very frequently.
For preventive tools, we sometimes use drone analyzers or detectors. These devices do not protect you directly, but they help you understand what is happening. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine provided me with one because they know I work frequently with foreign journalists.
The device can intercept the drone’s video signal—the same view that the drone operator sees. It allows you to see the landscape, the drone’s direction, and the approximate distance. This information can be crucial.
If you realize that the drone is approaching your location or your vehicle, you have a little more time to react. You might try to leave quickly by car. If there is not enough time, you may try to conceal the vehicle using terrain or nearby structures. In some situations, the only option is to abandon the vehicle and run for cover.
Because of these developments, working on the front line today is very different from how it was at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Jacobsen: Beyond cultural awareness and situational briefings, what practical guidance do you give journalists who are preparing to operate near the front line—or even simply reporting elsewhere in Ukraine during wartime? From tactical medicine and logistics to accommodation, navigation, and movement through contested areas, what are the most important precautions or habits that foreign reporters should develop before they begin working in such an unpredictable security environment?
Kovalenko: Training in tactical medicine is essential. It is the foundation of field safety for several reasons. First, you must be able to save yourself. Second, you may need to save your crew members. Third, you may need to assist injured civilians or soldiers.
It is not only about the standard MARCH protocol used in battlefield medicine. In Ukraine, the situation is often different because evacuation timelines are not predictable. In many military doctrines, there is the idea of a “golden hour” for evacuation and treatment. In Ukraine, that timeline is often impossible. Evacuation can take many hours, especially because drone activity can prevent vehicles from reaching injured people. Sometimes individuals must remain in place for six or even eight hours before evacuation becomes possible.
Because of this, the use of a tourniquet must be carefully managed. Normally, a tourniquet is applied for a limited time—often 1 to 2 hours—because prolonged restriction of blood flow can cause severe tissue damage. In current conditions, medics often combine a tourniquet with wound packing and other techniques to stabilize bleeding while trying to reduce the risk of long-term injury. This is why practical tactical medical training is extremely important.
Logistics are another major issue. Journalists working near the front should avoid staying in hotels in frontline regions. Instead, it is usually safer to rent an apartment or another private location. Russian strikes have repeatedly targeted hotels known to host journalists. In the Kharkiv region alone, several hotels have been destroyed during the war, and several journalists have been injured in such attacks.
I experienced this myself in Kharkiv in October 2023 when a Russian missile strike hit a hotel. I was in bed when the blast shattered the windows. The falling window frame injured me and broke two ribs. I also had cuts and bruises, and our car outside was destroyed. Experiences like that make it clear that hotels are often targeted.
Another issue is navigation. During major air-raid alerts in regions such as Donetsk, Kharkiv, and sometimes even Kyiv, electronic interference can disrupt GPS signals. When that happens, navigation systems may stop functioning properly. It is important to download maps that can operate offline and to understand the local road network in advance.
In frontline regions, it is easy to make a wrong turn and end up in an extremely dangerous place. For example, if you are driving in the Donetsk region, a wrong turn could bring you toward areas such as Pokrovsk or other active frontline zones.
When driving near the front line, it is advisable to open the window slightly and listen for drones. Many drones are fast but also very loud, so you can sometimes hear them approaching. At the same time, someone in the vehicle should constantly monitor the road and the surrounding area. In many crews, there is effectively a second observer in the car who monitors the sky and the terrain.
Many frontline roads are now covered with anti-drone netting—structures sometimes called “anti-drone tunnels.” These nets can provide some protection, but they are not a perfect solution. In some cases, one drone can damage the netting, creating a gap that allows another drone to attack vehicles passing through. These structures mainly give drivers more time to react.
Another critical point is understanding the risks. This is not a computer game. There is no reset button, and there is no second attempt. You have one life. No story from the front line is worth dying for. If a journalist dies, they cannot tell the story.
So you must constantly evaluate whether entering a dangerous area is truly necessary. Sometimes it is possible to report a story from a safer location or by speaking with people who have been there.
Jacobsen: Modern warfare is also deeply shaped by digital infrastructure—communications networks, satellite connections, and the constant flow of online information. For journalists working in Ukraine, what role do tools such as VPNs and other digital security measures play in everyday reporting? Are there particular digital precautions, communication practices, or technological habits that you believe journalists should adopt in order to operate safely and effectively in a conflict environment where cyber risks and information control are increasingly part of the battlefield?
Kovalenko: Regarding digital security, VPNs can be useful in several situations. Russian websites and online services are often blocked within Ukraine, so journalists may need a VPN to access Russian sources for research. In some frontline regions, certain online platforms or communication tools may also function more reliably through VPN connections.
Another practical issue is money. Even in damaged cities in the Donetsk region—such as Dobropillia—people still run small shops. Many places use generators and Starlink connections, which sometimes allow card payments. However, it is still wise to carry some cash in Ukrainian hryvnia because electricity and communications can fail.
Finally, during large air-raid attacks, it is important to follow basic shelter rules. One common guideline is the “two-wall rule.” You should stay away from windows and place at least two solid walls between yourself and the outside. Bathrooms or interior corridors often provide safer locations. Lower floors are generally safer as well.
Of course, the best option is always to go to a proper underground shelter. But if that is not possible, these precautions can increase your chances of surviving a missile or drone attack.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Andrii.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/05
In moments of geopolitical upheaval, human rights lawyers often become reluctant historians of collapse. Few understand that reality more clearly than Oleksandra Matviichuk. As the head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties and a central figure in the Euromaidan SOS initiative, Matviichuk has spent more than a decade documenting abuses, defending political prisoners, and pressing international institutions to respond to Russian aggression. In 2022, the Center for Civil Liberties received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work promoting human rights and accountability, and Matviichuk delivered the Nobel lecture on the organization’s behalf.
For many observers outside Eastern Europe, the collapse of the post–Cold War order seemed sudden, a shock delivered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For Ukrainians, Matviichuk argues, the unraveling began much earlier—with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the failure of international institutions to meaningfully enforce the principles they claimed to defend. The result, she says, is a world where legal norms are weakening, international bodies often perform rituals rather than solve crises, and authoritarian states are increasingly willing to test the limits of global indifference.
In this conversation, Matviichuk reflects on the erosion of the international legal order, the paralysis of institutions like the United Nations, and the profound human rights consequences of Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory. She also discusses the challenges of building a more representative global system, the dangers of short-term political thinking, and the moral responsibility of leaders—and citizens—in an era of rising authoritarianism. Ultimately, she returns to the human dimension of the conflict: torture, deportation, indoctrination, and the future of millions of children growing up under occupation.
For Matviichuk, the stakes are not abstract. They are measured in lives, dignity, and the fragile idea that international law should mean something.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In the United States, there have been increasingly visible efforts to restrict rights connected to belief, conscience, and religious freedom, pressures that appear to fall particularly heavily on those with no religious affiliation and on communities outside the country’s historically dominant Protestant traditions, including Muslims.
At the same time, we are seeing new limits placed on reproductive rights. Canada once faced comparable battles; there, the physician Henry Morgentaler became the central figure advancing abortion rights through the courts and public debate. Despite widespread public opposition to many of the current administration’s policies, there remains a determined push forward, with critics arguing that dissenting opinion is often disregarded. This raises a broader question: in a world rapidly moving away from the unipolar order of the past, and perhaps even beyond the bipolar structure that preceded it, what role should middle powers play in navigating this transitional moment in global politics?
Oleksandra Matviichuk: This year, world leaders understood that the world order has collapsed. We hear this from the Prime Minister of Canada in Davos. However, it is no surprise to Ukrainians. For us, the world order based on the UN Charter and international law collapsed 12 years ago, when Russia annexed Crimea. It was unprecedented in Europe after the Second World War, because we had not seen a situation in which one country annexed part of another. It ruined fundamental international principles such as the inviolability of state borders and respect for state sovereignty.
World leaders may have thought that the UN Charter was not working only for Ukraine. However, this year, everyone understood that it is a global story. The question is not only to regret that we lost something. The UN system was not ideal. It coped with global challenges more or less in the past. However, now it is stalling and reproducing ritualistic movements. The Security Council’s work is paralyzed. When the system was built, the victorious countries of the Second World War preserved special privileges for themselves. It is unfair that several countries are permanent members of the Security Council and can determine global decisions.
Even my smartphone has an expiration date. This system was created after the Second World War, and it has reached its limits. We do not need to speak much about it, except from a psychological perspective. Human life is short, and I will probably still see these ritualistic movements until the end of my life. The League of Nations existed until 1946, even though the Second World War had ended. So institutions persist even after their effectiveness has faded.
The main question we must discuss is how to create the future we want. The main struggle is about what the new world order will look like. Ukraine finds itself at the epicentre of events that will shape the world’s future. Last year, I am afraid that humanity made a significant step back into the past, where the world was governed not by the rule of law but by the will of the strongest. That past was not great. Being the strongest is always a process; you must constantly prove that you are at the top of the hierarchy. A world governed by the strongest, in which several countries dominate, is fragile. It is a world of wars and mass violence because their interests conflict, and proxy wars or other types of wars emerge.
Jacobsen: One important caveat about the League of Nations is that its collapse did not mark the end of the idea behind it. In many ways, the institution was reconstituted and adapted into the United Nations, which represented a substantial improvement on the earlier model. Today we seem to be living through another transitional moment in global politics, and historically these periods of geopolitical change tend to be painful for many of the people caught up in them. Taking the privileges you mentioned as an example—particularly the five permanent seats on the Security Council and the veto power those states exercise when it serves their interests—how might one imagine a system of international rules that more fully reflects the concerns of the global population while avoiding the entrenched privileges that currently define that structure?
Matviichuk: We have to answer many difficult questions, and there is no serious public discussion of them; there is only limited expert discussion. The first question is about representation. We call it the United Nations, but the majority of governments in the General Assembly do not represent their societies. They represent ruling elites who have captured power in their countries. So the first question is how to provide a genuine voice for nations.
The second question concerns the organization’s nature. We call the United Nations an international organization, but it is an inter-state organization. Each state promotes its own interests, which is natural. However, who will promote international interests, the interests of humanity? Who will think beyond national borders, not only to balance or dominate, but to build an architecture of peace and security that reflects shared global interests?
Third, I am not confident that a new world order will automatically be based on human rights and freedom. We are losing freedom globally. Around 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that are not fully free, according to major democracy indices. In authoritarian countries, the space of freedom is shrinking dramatically. In established democracies, people question the universality of human rights principles. Those who can provide serious, complex answers to these questions would deserve the highest recognition for their contribution to peace.
Jacobsen: I am hardly the first person to observe this, and it does not require a particularly brilliant analyst—certainly not one like me—to notice a pattern. Many of the prominent leaders contributing to instability in the international system, and in the process damaging livelihoods across borders, tend to be older men from established political generations.
Last summer, I spent three weeks in Iceland studying the country’s culture, and what I encountered there stood in striking contrast to that pattern. The president, the prime minister, and the head of the country’s main church are all women, and three of the four major political parties are also led by women. Even amid the turbulence currently shaping global politics, Iceland remains relatively quiet and functional. For years, it has ranked at or near the top of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. Of course, there are always exceptions to broader trends. But looking at cases like Iceland, what kinds of leadership styles might women bring—particularly if representation were more equal internationally or within inter-state institutions—that could help reduce the scale or intensity of the crises we are now witnessing around the world?
Matviichuk: It is a modest requirement. Politicians must base their decisions on critical interests, but also on human rights. If you mortgage your future for immediate gain and think only about economic benefits, you may benefit in the short term, but you will face the consequences. In the long term, this leads to catastrophe. Russia is a clear example. For decades, Russian human rights defenders warned that a country that violates human rights poses a threat not only to its own citizens but also to international security and peace. Even well-developed democracies did not listen. They shook hands, did business as usual, and continued engagement.
Second, democracy is not an ideal form of government because it produces short-term thinking. Politicians who come to power focus on electoral cycles and immediate results to demonstrate to voters. In the global storm we are facing, we need leaders who think not only about elections but about history, who think long term. We are living with the consequences of decisions made years ago, including during the period when the occupation of Crimea began. When politicians focus only on the short term, they think that problems will vanish or become someone else’s responsibility after the next election. However, problems do not disappear; they become more serious. My second modest request is to consider the long-term perspective, not just the years in office.
Jacobsen: What about the unlawfully transferred children? The last verified figure I encountered was roughly 19,500. I assume the true total may now be even higher.
Matviichuk: Numbers are a problem. As human rights lawyers, we cannot independently verify or refute official numbers provided by the Ukrainian state, but we know that this is a systematic practice. That is why the International Criminal Court opened a case and issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights in connection with the unlawful deportation of children. I am worried that we do not speak enough about children under Russian occupation. Approximately 1.6 million children live in territories under Russian occupation. Many of them are experiencing systematic erosion of their identity. They are restricted in the use of the Ukrainian language.
They live under pressure, knowing that if they say something considered disloyal, security services may come to their parents. They study from Russian textbooks that deny Ukraine’s sovereignty. Children who were older at the beginning of the occupation may retain a sense of dual reality, but very young children are vulnerable to indoctrination. In parallel, there is militarization, beginning in kindergarten and extending through multiple areas of society. In occupied territories, some children are sent to camps where they wear military uniforms, live in barracks, march, and receive weapons training. This is not only a human rights problem; it is also a security problem.
Militarization is attractive to children. You feel cool, you feel strong, you think you have a tool to dominate and to make things happen. However, it implants authoritarian thinking in the hearts and minds of children, because they start to believe that freedom and the will of others do not matter. What matters is your place in the hierarchy of violence.
Why is this not only a human rights problem? When these children turn 14, they receive Russian passports. At 18, they are subject to conscription into the Russian army. This means they can be sent to fight and die wherever Russia decides. When people speak about territories as if they are empty spaces and do not try to make life under Russian occupation more secure, these children grow up. They become adults, and the consequences of our passivity will come back to haunt us.
Jacobsen: What about the murder, injury, or torture of those who attempt to tell these stories? Organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and other monitoring groups carefully document the killing of journalists in conflict zones. The figures I have seen suggest that something like 112 journalists have been killed during this period. These are, in many ways, war crimes committed against those whose role is to serve as cultural storytellers and witnesses to what is happening.
Matviichuk: The Institute of Mass Information maintains a list of Ukrainian media workers, journalists, photojournalists, and bloggers who have died in this war. There are cultural figures who have been tortured to death, some killed while serving in the Ukrainian armed forces, others killed by Russian shelling and drone strikes, such as the Ukrainian writer Victoriya Amelina. These lists are publicly available.
There are Ukrainian journalists held in Russian prisons. My specialization is Russian captivity. I have interviewed hundreds of people who survived detention. They described severe beatings, sexual violence, confinement in small boxes, electric shocks, and other forms of torture. Some detainees reported extreme physical abuse. People are dying in Russian prisons. That is why I am disappointed that we have lost the human dimension. Peace talks are a window of opportunity to solve urgent humanitarian problems. Even if peace cannot be achieved immediately, urgent humanitarian issues can be addressed. However, if these issues are not a priority for negotiators, there is little chance for progress.
Jacobsen: A footnote to all of this is that other major conflicts are unfolding at the same time, many of them producing severe humanitarian catastrophes. One example that receives far less attention in Western media is the war in Tigray, Ethiopia, from 2020 to 2022, where even conservative estimates suggest that several hundred thousand people were killed. When peace negotiations are used primarily as delaying tactics, valuable time and resources are lost—resources that could otherwise be directed not only toward urgent humanitarian needs in Ukraine but also toward crises elsewhere. Major powers, even while facing controversy at home, are still capable of exerting constructive influence in other conflicts.
Yet the reality is that international focus is limited. In practice, public attention and political bandwidth tend to concentrate on only one or two wars at any given moment.
Matviichuk: It is not a competition for attention. It is easy to predict that wars will emerge more frequently in different parts of the world. The international environment is unstable. The previous world order has weakened, and tensions exist everywhere. Some leaders may seek to benefit from this global instability.
Humanity has chosen not to solve problems but to postpone them. Problems can be suppressed for a time, but then they erupt with greater force. We see this in protracted conflicts, including in the Middle East, where unresolved tensions have persisted for decades and then escalated dramatically.
Jacobsen: I have interviewed feminist journalists and media owners working in extremely difficult environments, including Afghanistan, where conditions for women remain among the most restrictive in the world. Many of these women are practicing grassroots journalism rather than working within large institutional media organizations. Perhaps we can end on the human dimension of this issue. You are now a prominent voice in this field, but this was not where your career originally began. What first inspired you to become involved in this work?
Matviichuk: When I was a schoolgirl, I had the opportunity to meet Yevhen Sverstiuk, a Ukrainian philosopher, writer, and former Soviet political prisoner. He took an interest in me and introduced me to a circle of former Soviet dissidents. I found myself among people who said what they believed and did what they said. They stood against the Soviet totalitarian system. Many were repressed; some were killed, some imprisoned, some confined in psychiatric institutions. However, they did not give up. Growing up in that environment, I was inspired. I decided to study law and to continue the fight for freedom and human dignity.
Jacobsen: You have often spoken about the importance of long-term thinking and taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions. If an Eastern European teenage girl were to come across your story and begin considering a path into this kind of work, what message would you want her to hear?
Matviichuk: My message would be simple: be brave. We are not hostages of circumstances; we are participants in history. Dignity gives us the strength to act even in unbearable conditions. Be brave.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Oleksandra.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/28
As Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into another year, the battlefield is not the only site of struggle. The fight for accountability—for documented truth, legal redress, and international attention—has become equally consequential. At the center of that effort stands the Center for Civil Liberties, the Kyiv-based human-rights organization awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for its work documenting Russian war crimes and defending democratic freedoms under assault.
Anna Trushova serves as Press Officer and Media Relations Manager for the Center, helping translate field documentation into international awareness and institutional pressure. She coordinates communications tied to the Tribunal for Putin (T4P) initiative, which systematically documents Russian war crimes, unlawful detentions, enforced disappearances, and conflict-related sexual violence. In parallel, as Communications Director and a member of the Union of Women of Ukraine, she advances women-led advocacy supporting displaced families, trauma survivors, widows, journalists, and emerging leaders across the country.
In this interview, Trushova discusses the strategic communications battle surrounding Russia’s atrocities, the challenge of sustaining global attention amid fatigue and geopolitical distraction, the ethical imperatives of survivor-centered reporting, and the role of women-led civil society in rebuilding resilience during wartime. At stake, she argues, is not only justice for Ukraine—but the integrity of international law itself.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As Russia’s war stretches on and international attention ebbs and flows, what are the Center for Civil Liberties’ most urgent communications priorities right now? How do you prevent war crimes documentation from being swallowed by global fatigue or geopolitical distraction?
Anna Trushova: Our priority is to keep international attention focused on Russia’s ongoing mass atrocities, at a moment when fatigue and political distraction make this increasingly difficult. We work to amplify evidence-based reporting from the ground, highlight the systemic nature of Russia’s violence, and humanize the stories of civilians who continue to disappear, be tortured, and face unlawful detention.
Another key priority is the People First campaign — advocating for the immediate release of Ukrainian civilians and POWs, especially women, people with disabilities, the sick, and political prisoners.
Jacobsen: The Tribunal for Putin initiative has built an extensive evidentiary record since February 24, 2022. How do you convert that volume of legal documentation into messaging that not only informs but pressures institutions such as the ICC and UN to act?
Trushova: Communications and documentation work as one chain.
T4P produces the verified evidence — incidents mapped almost day-by-day since February 2022, collected by regional organisations that know their communities.
Our role is to ensure this evidence reaches the institutions capable of acting: the ICC, UN mechanisms.
We translate a massive evidence base into public understanding and political pressure, showing that Russia’s crimes are not isolated excesses but the architecture of a genocidal war.
Jacobsen: You have described certain abuses as systemic rather than incidental. Which patterns of violence—whether enforced disappearances, detention practices, repression in occupied territories, or the deportation of children—most clearly reveal an organized strategy, and why do they demand immediate international intervention?
Trushova: Three categories are urgent. Enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions — Russia systematically targets teachers, journalists, local officials, priests, activists, and anyone refusing collaboration. Abuses in occupied territories — forced labor, torture, filtration practices, and repression that deepens with every new stage of attempted annexation. Deportation and re-education of Ukrainian children — an assault on identity consistent with genocidal intent.
These crimes escalate as Russia tightens control, and they demand a coordinated international response now—not after the fact.
Jacobsen: Survivor-centered reporting is central to your work. How do you strike the balance between exposing atrocities and safeguarding those who remain in captivity, under occupation, or at risk of retraumatization?
Trushova: Survivor safety defines all our decisions.
Public exposure should never come at the cost of retraumatisation or risk to those still in captivity or in occupied territories.
The public has a right to know the truth, but survivors have the right to decide how, when, and whether their story is told.
Jacobsen: There is often a gap between legal timelines and media cycles. Where do you see the greatest friction between field investigators focused on evidentiary rigor and journalists seeking immediacy, and how can that gap be responsibly bridged?
Trushova: The main bottleneck is volume and velocity: the scale of crimes exceeds the media’s capacity to absorb and contextualize them.
Finally, investigators prioritize evidence for legal accountability, while journalists often need narrative immediacy — aligning these timelines requires careful coordination.
Jacobsen: Disinformation campaigns frequently aim to discredit victims and human-rights defenders. What strategies have proven most effective in countering narratives designed to obscure or normalize Russia’s abuses?
Trushova: A core part of my work is to communicate the truth about Russia’s crimes to international media, replacing propaganda with verified facts and survivor-centred testimony. Together with the Center for Civil Liberties, we have produced hundreds of media stories that expose one of the least-known crimes of this war — the mass enforced disappearances of Ukrainian civilians, who are now illegally held in Russian prisons.
According to the Geneva Conventions, the concept of “civilian prisoners of war” does not exist, but Russia systematically abducts mayors, volunteers, teachers, journalists, and ordinary citizens from occupied territories.
By amplifying the voices of victims and protecting them from manipulation, we counter disinformation not only with facts — but with dignity, accuracy, and global visibility.
Jacobsen: Through your work with the Union of Women of Ukraine, you are also shaping a parallel front of civic resilience. How are women-led initiatives—whether through leadership training, psychological support, or community rebuilding—reshaping Ukraine’s democratic fabric during wartime?
Trushova: The Union of Women of Ukraine (СЖУ) is the first nationwide women’s organisation in the country, dedicated to protecting women’s rights, strengthening democracy, and building a society of equal opportunities. It brings together more than 10,000 active members across 22 regions — human-rights defenders, scholars, educators, cultural leaders, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and volunteers.
In 2025, the Union continues to support women affected by the war: displaced families, survivors of trauma, and relatives of soldiers. We run safe spaces for women and children, psychological retreats for mothers and widows of fallen soldiers, reintegration programmes for internally displaced women, and community-based support networks.
A strategic focus this year is gender equality and women’s leadership at the local level. We conduct training for journalists on gender-sensitive reporting, promote women’s participation in decision-making, and collaborate with international partners to strengthen women’s role in peacebuilding and community resilience.
In 2025, together with partners, we launched the Academy of Women’s Leadership — an innovative educational space for young women aged 17–35. The project develops leadership skills, provides mentorship from experienced women leaders, and creates a collaborative environment for personal and professional growth.
Overall, the Union of Women of Ukraine embodies resilience, dignity, and solidarity, helping women not only survive the consequences of war but also rebuild their lives, regain agency, and drive positive change in their communities.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Anna.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/21
“It’s quite conceivable that humanity is just a passing phase in the evolution of intelligence,” Geoffrey Hinton has warned. Marvin Minsky offered a more paternal vision: “Will robots inherit the earth? Yes, but they will be our children.” And Isaac Asimov, characteristically unsentimental, insisted, “I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.” Those three perspectives capture the unsettled mood of the age. Artificial intelligence inspires awe, anxiety, and pragmatic acceptance all at once. What no longer inspires is doubt about its significance. AI is not arriving; it has arrived.
Large language models, once obscure research projects, now draft legal briefs, summarize medical records, compose music, and simulate conversation at scale. Behind them lies a broader ambition: artificial general intelligence and, perhaps one day, artificial superintelligence. Whether those milestones are near or distant is beside the point. The systems already deployed are reshaping labor markets, information ecosystems, and political life. They determine what we see, what we read, and increasingly what we believe. The ethical scaffolding meant to govern such tools has struggled to keep pace.
It is against this backdrop that Humanists UK proposed the Luxembourg Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Human Values at the 2025 General Assembly of Humanists International. The Declaration does not read like a technical white paper. It reads like a moral intervention. Its premise is that AI represents a turning point in human history and that the speed of its development now outstrips the ethical and regulatory systems designed to guide it. When technological capacity accelerates faster than democratic oversight, risks multiply: the erosion of freedoms, the concentration of power, and the destabilization of democratic norms.
The Declaration responds with ten principles. They are rooted in humanist values such as reason, compassion, dignity, and freedom, but they are directed squarely at contemporary policy dilemmas. One of the most urgent is the preservation of human judgment. AI, the Declaration argues, should assist rather than replace human ethics, responsibility, and reason. This is not an abstract philosophical claim. In courtrooms, hospitals, and hiring platforms, algorithmic recommendations are increasingly treated as neutral or even superior to human deliberation. Yet algorithms do not bear moral responsibility. They are trained on historical data and optimized for measurable outputs. They cannot weigh justice in the way human communities must.
The emphasis on the common good follows naturally. AI systems should serve humanity broadly rather than enrich a narrow elite. The industrial revolutions of the past produced immense wealth but also deep inequality. Without deliberate intervention, AI may replicate that pattern. The Declaration calls for shared prosperity, investment in education, and protections that ensure workers are not simply displaced and discarded. Technological progress does not guarantee social progress. The latter requires policy choices.
Democratic governance occupies another central place. The development and deployment of advanced AI are concentrated in a handful of corporations and states. That concentration brings efficiency and scale, but it also raises the specter of unaccountable power. The Declaration insists on accountability at all levels, rather than corporate or state control, insulated from scrutiny. It calls for ethical review boards, independent oversight bodies, and multi-stakeholder governance frameworks capable of embedding safeguards into AI systems from the outset. Transparency and autonomy are essential in this vision. Citizens should understand how AI systems affect them, and data protection must be robust enough to preserve meaningful consent.
The risks extend beyond governance structures to the texture of everyday life. Protection from harm includes preventing discrimination, manipulation, and violence facilitated by AI systems. Generative models can flood the public sphere with misinformation at unprecedented speed. Deepfakes and automated propaganda can blur the line between truth and fabrication. The Declaration pairs a defense of reason, truth, and integrity with a commitment to free inquiry. Democracies depend on both. Efforts to curb misinformation must not become tools for suppressing dissent, yet inaction can allow deception to corrode public trust.
The document also addresses creators and artists, whose work forms the raw material for many generative systems. Fair compensation and recognition are not sentimental add-ons; they are structural necessities. If human creativity is treated as an inexhaustible resource to be scraped and repackaged without consent, cultural ecosystems will suffer. Protecting creators affirms the value of human expression in an age when machines can mimic it convincingly.
Future generations enter the frame as well. AI’s environmental footprint, its long-term safety risks, and its potential to alter human civilization demand a temporal perspective that extends beyond quarterly earnings and election cycles. Intergenerational justice requires that present gains not mortgage the future. The Declaration’s final emphasis on human freedom and flourishing underscores its broader ambition: AI should expand knowledge, leisure, happiness, and progress, not constrict them.
Importantly, the Luxembourg Declaration does not claim to offer definitive answers. It is not an oracle or a manifesto disguised as scripture. It is a framework for navigating uncertainty. Its grounding in humanist values distinguishes it from purely market-driven approaches, which prioritize profit, and from authoritarian models, which subordinate technology to centralized political control. By contrast, the Declaration situates AI governance within a tradition that affirms universal human rights and aligns with instruments such as UNESCO’s recommendations on AI ethics and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It also gestures toward global asymmetries. The infrastructure of AI is concentrated in the Global North, and the benefits of innovation risk accruing to those already advantaged. A humanist framework insists that the fruits of technological progress be shared and that international cooperation bridge divides rather than entrench them.
The Declaration ultimately calls on governments, corporations, civil society, and individuals to adopt its principles through concrete policies and international agreements. This appeal recognizes that AI governance cannot be left to engineers alone. It is a civic endeavor. The systems being built will shape education, labor, art, warfare, and democracy itself. Decisions about their design and oversight are therefore political in the broadest sense.
Hinton’s caution, Minsky’s optimism, and Asimov’s realism each capture a facet of the AI debate. The Luxembourg Declaration attempts to hold those facets together without collapsing into fatalism or naïveté. AI carries risks and promises in equal measure. Whether it erodes freedom or enhances it will depend less on technical breakthroughs than on the values embedded in its governance.
In that sense, the document is not primarily about machines. It is about responsibility. Intelligence, artificial or otherwise, does not absolve human beings of moral agency. If AI transforms the conditions of life in the twenty-first century, then the ethical frameworks we construct around it will help determine whether that transformation deepens inequality and authoritarianism or advances human dignity and flourishing. The technology is new. The question it poses is not.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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“The aspirations of democracy are based on the notion of an informed citizenry,” Ann Druyan once observed. The remark feels less like an inspirational flourish than a diagnosis of our present moment. Democratic societies now ask their citizens to navigate pandemics, artificial intelligence, climate modeling, and geopolitical instability—subjects that require not instinct but literacy, not slogans but sustained reasoning. When scientific understanding erodes, democracy does not simply wobble. It begins to lose its ballast.
That concern animated the Humanists International General Assembly and the International Humanist Conference, held July 4–6 at d’Coque in Luxembourg City. Organized in partnership with AHA Lëtzebuerg—the Alliance of Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics in Luxembourg—the gathering featured the theme “From Awareness to Action: Strengthening Open Societies through Scientific Literacy.” What might once have sounded like an academic slogan instead felt urgent. Across continents, participants described the same pattern: misinformation metastasizing online, expertise reframed as elitism, and democratic institutions strained by distrust.
Humanists International, the global representative body for organized humanism, convened more than 80 delegates from over 50 countries. The diversity of contexts was striking. Delegates came from liberal democracies wrestling with polarization, from regions where superstition can carry violent consequences, and from societies where secular voices operate under legal and cultural pressure. Yet a common thread emerged: scientific literacy is not peripheral to democracy. It is structural.
(Recordings of the conference are available by clicking here.)
The conference opened with welcome remarks from Bob Reuter, President of AHA Lëtzebuerg, and Andrew Copson, then-President of Humanists International. The keynote address by Christian Meyers set a bracing tone. Titled “Obscurantism strikes back? Anti-Science & Anti-Democracy as two sides of the same coin,” the talk framed anti-science movements not as isolated cultural phenomena but as political strategies. When evidence becomes negotiable and expertise suspect, democratic deliberation weakens. Science and democracy share a reliance on open inquiry, criticism, and revision. Undermine one, and the other grows fragile.
Clemens Lintschinger followed by arguing that democracies require robust scientific cultures capable of absorbing critique without collapsing into cynicism. Scientific institutions, he suggested, are healthiest when they welcome scrutiny. But in an environment saturated with bad-faith attacks, even legitimate criticism can be weaponized. The challenge is to preserve intellectual openness without surrendering to epistemic chaos.
If the early sessions diagnosed systemic threats, later panels shifted toward practice. Monica Belițoiu described an initiative that transforms a simple calendar into a tool against misinformation, linking historical dates to scientific discoveries and critical reflection. In rural Guatemala, David Pineda outlined science education programs designed to reach communities that often lack access to quality instruction. Dennis Fink demonstrated interactive, hands-on shows that invite audiences to experience skepticism rather than merely hear about it.
Dr. Leo Igwe’s presentation underscored the stakes in stark terms. In parts of Africa, accusations of witchcraft still fuel persecution and violence. His “Information Theory of Change” argues that scientific literacy is not an abstract civic virtue but a protective shield. Superstitious belief, when reinforced by social and institutional forces, can destroy lives. Teaching critical thinking becomes, in that context, a form of human rights advocacy.
Louis Krieger presented “Scienteens Lab,” workshops designed to engage teenagers and nurture curiosity at an age when identity and worldview take shape. Sudesh Ghoderao spoke about training programs for educators and independent assessment opportunities aimed at fostering scientific mindsets among students. Hanna Siemaszko examined how emotion and storytelling can amplify science communication, acknowledging that facts alone rarely travel far without narrative vehicles. Ann Kiefer illustrated how humor—through Science Slams—can transform academic research into accessible public engagement. Michèle Weber, representing the Luxembourg National Research Fund, discussed efforts to humanize science communication by integrating empathy into outreach. Boris van der Ham’s “Human for All Seasons” presentation tied these strands together, situating scientific literacy within a broader secular humanist life-stance that links evidence, human dignity, and democratic resilience.
Between sessions and long after formal discussions ended, conversations continued in hallways and at evening events, including a gala dinner at La Table du Belvédère. Delegates traded stories about cross-border challenges: the erosion of trust in institutions, the manipulation of digital platforms, the entanglement of nationalism and religious identity, and the difficulty of sustaining public reasoning in fractured media ecosystems. The refrain was consistent. Democracy does not collapse only through coups. It can corrode slowly when citizens lose shared standards of evidence.
The General Assembly on July 6 shifted the focus to institutional governance. Andrew Copson stepped down as president, and Maggie Ardiente was elected to lead Humanists International into its next chapter. New board members—Monica Belițoiu of Romania, Nina Fjeldheim of Norway, and Fraser Sutherland of Scotland—joined the leadership. The transition symbolized continuity rather than rupture: a generational handoff within a movement attempting to adapt to accelerating global change.
One of the Assembly’s most consequential actions was the adoption of the Luxembourg Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Human Values, drafted by Humanists UK with contributions from experts and member organizations. The declaration outlines ten principles, including human judgment, democratic governance, transparency, protection from harm, shared prosperity, and responsibility to future generations. At a moment when artificial intelligence is reshaping labor markets, public discourse, and even creative production, the declaration seeks to anchor technological advancement in human-centered ethics. It insists that tools should extend human flourishing, not eclipse accountability or autonomy.
The 2024 Distinguished Services to Humanism honors were awarded to Luis del Castillo of Peru, Gaylene Middleton of New Zealand, and Andrew Copson of the United Kingdom. The tributes emphasized sustained commitment—decades of advocacy paired with institution-building. Ideals endure only when translated into durable structures.
Travel grants enabled participation from delegates who might otherwise have been excluded, reinforcing a practical commitment to inclusivity. The closing announcement carried the gathering’s momentum forward: the next Humanists International General Assembly will convene in Ottawa, Canada, in August 2026, in partnership with Humanist Canada. Martin Frith, President of Humanist Canada, welcomed the global community to the forthcoming event.
Yet the true takeaway from Luxembourg was not logistical but philosophical. Scientific literacy emerged not as a technical objective but as a democratic necessity. In an era of algorithmic amplification and ideological fragmentation, the habits cultivated by science—skepticism, tolerance for ambiguity, commitment to evidence—double as civic virtues. Humanism, as articulated across the conference, frames those habits within a broader ethical commitment to human freedom and flourishing.
If democracy depends on informed citizens, then scientific literacy is not merely educational policy. It is democratic defense. Luxembourg offered no illusions about the scale of the challenge. But it offered something more durable than alarm: a network of institutions and individuals determined to move from awareness to action.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Michael Weinstein has spent more than two decades in a fight he believes is existential—not merely for the U.S. military, but for American democracy itself. A 1977 honors graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former Air Force judge advocate, Weinstein later served in legal posts within the Reagan White House, including during the Iran–Contra investigation. In 2005, he founded the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) after concluding that religious coercion—particularly forms of militant Christian nationalism—had taken root inside the armed forces.
Since then, MRFF has represented more than 100,000 service members and veterans of every major faith. Although the overwhelming majority of its clients identify as Christian, many seek the foundation’s help because they feel marginalized for not conforming to a particular ideological or theological mold. Under Weinstein’s leadership, MRFF has challenged what it sees as institutional favoritism toward Christian nationalist currents within the U.S. military and federal government—pressures that, in a strictly hierarchical system governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, can carry consequences far beyond social discomfort.
In this conversation, Weinstein discusses an escalation in threats against him and his staff—including an online message offering money for his assassination—alongside what he views as a broader surge in white Christian nationalism within the U.S. military. He reflects on the movement’s cultural accelerants, from film to political rhetoric, and argues that internal ideological fracture weakens military cohesion and emboldens foreign adversaries. For Weinstein, the stakes are not partisan. They are constitutional.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s begin with a recent development. You received an online message that invoked some of the most violent and racially charged language in American history and included an explicit solicitation of violence against you and your staff. Although it has not yet been reported in the press, it is documented and publicly accessible. What did this message reveal to you about the current threat environment—and how does it differ from the hostility you have faced in the past?
Mikey Weinstein: A comment was posted on our website eight nights ago, last Saturday. We did not detect it immediately. We noticed it on Sunday evening due to IT issues. Generally, we receive between a dozen and eighteen grotesque, highly antisemitic threats each day, many by phone. This one stood out even by our standards. It used horrific language and included a solicitation offering $20,000 for my assassination and $5,000 for each staff member.
We immediately contacted law enforcement and the district attorney. We have a close working relationship with law enforcement in New Mexico. Our home has extensive security, including infrared cameras and defensive measures such as non-lethal and lethal measures, and elite, attack-trained working German Shepherds. We maintain a strong defensive network.
Even so, receiving something like this is deeply disturbing. It is intended to terrorize. It is clearly a felony. It was routed through an anonymity infrastructure associated with the Tor network, making it extremely unlikely to identify the sender. That is the cost of fighting MAGA. We are accustomed to threats, but this one was off the scale.
Church groups have publicly prayed for women in my family to develop fast-moving, metastasizing, inoperable breast cancer. Others have prayed for me to develop rectal cancer. Our windows have been shot out twice. Animals have been beheaded and left at our home. Swastikas and crucifixes have been painted on the house. Beer bottles and feces have been thrown at the property. About a year ago, feces were smeared across our mailbox.
Some of this reaches the news. Much of it does not. This is the price of standing up. That is why we provide military clients and veterans with anonymity, action, results, and protection—especially anonymity.
February 4, 2004, marked our entry into this fight with the release of The Passion of the Christ. We refer to it as the “Jesus Chainsaw Massacre.” The film was pushed through the cadet and officer chain of command at my alma mater, where three of my children were enrolled at the time.
This pattern continues from film to film—from The Passion of the Christ to Melania, the recent documentary. Days ago, military personnel from eight installations, both overseas and within the continental United States, reported being pressured to attend screenings to “support the country.” Our role is to chronicle, expose, intervene, and confront.
Service members do not typically contact the ACLU, Americans United, or the Southern Poverty Law Center, although we work closely with all of them. We focus with precision on white Christian nationalism, where nuclear weapons and drones are controlled. You are currently in a war zone, so you understand this reality.
About a year ago, my son spent a month in Ukraine driving vehicles from Poland into Ukraine for the Ukrainian military.
Why do movies matter? Because when people sit in a dark theatre or stream content at home, attitudes change. Consider Leni Riefenstahl, the Third Reich’s most effective propaganda filmmaker. She was technically brilliant, and her work reshaped public psychology.
From this perspective, we are at war. You are in a physical war zone. We are in a domestic war against Christian nationalism—the jet fuel of MAGA. We saw this trajectory in the early 2000s and take no pleasure in being correct. It is now everywhere.
When Christian nationalism appears in elementary schools, high schools, and universities—such as the British Columbia analogue to Liberty University you mentioned—the same pattern is replicated across institutions: Liberty, Regis, and many others.
Among sanitation workers, police, firefighters, and legislators, the problem is severe. In the military, it is off the scale. A subordinate cannot simply say, “No, sir,” or “No, ma’am,” and refuse to attend a mandated activity. In the U.S. military, failure to obey a lawful order—such as reporting to a required appointment—can result in criminal punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Sexual relations outside of marriage are not automatically a felony in the civilian sense, but adultery can be prosecuted under the UCMJ when it undermines good order, discipline, or unit cohesion. I know this firsthand. I spent seven years as an Air Force judge advocate and handled those cases. The Supreme Court has made clear that the compelling governmental interest of the U.S. military is to maximize effectiveness and lethality in defending the nation’s constitutional rights. You are a journalist. I am a civil rights activist. In the military, many First Amendment rights are lawfully restricted.
The military maximizes effectiveness through good order, morale, discipline, cohesion, health and safety, and mission accomplishment. Conduct that damages those factors can be criminally sanctioned. In civilian life, adultery may be irrelevant. In the military, it can violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Christian nationalism has a stranglehold across this country. You see it in Minneapolis and elsewhere, but what is harder to process is what is happening now, including within the military. Some people are waking up and asking friends and family for absolution for having been drawn into MAGA. They now recognize that they were wrong and want to move on. The question is whether absolution should be granted. I do not offer it. I have no forgiveness to give to those who enabled this.
I look at the calendar. It is Sunday evening in Ukraine, February 8, 2026, and late Sunday morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It feels like 1933 Germany. That is the historical parallel that weighs on me.
We are dealing with sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, and members of the Space Force, who are called Guardians. The Space Force remains part of the Department of the Air Force. This also includes the Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, and the U.S. Maritime Service, including the Merchant Marine Academy, which falls under the Department of Transportation. These institutional distinctions matter.
Anyone actively serving Trump in an obsequious, uncritical way is supporting a Christian nationalist agenda. That includes political figures such as J.D. Vance and others aligned with that movement. The divide in this country is no longer just a chasm; there are visible warning signs. History shows that such signs precede civil conflict.
My concern is that if Democrats regain the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, Trump could again be impeached. If convicted, the question is whether he would leave peacefully. That refusal could act as a catalyst for widespread unrest in early 2027.
This is not about politics in the ordinary sense. People talk about losing friends or family members over politics. This is not politics. This is morality. Anyone who insists otherwise is fundamentally mistaken.
We are well beyond that point. Within the U.S. military, the danger is not limited to isolated acts of violence. It includes threats to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy military forces domestically, potentially in support of agencies such as ICE or Customs and Border Protection. That prospect is deeply alarming.
This is where we are now. We serve more than 100,000 clients, with hundreds more reaching out every month. We do what we can to protect them. That is why we are doing this interview. We document patterns, preserve evidence, and prepare for accountability. We may have crossed too many Rubicons to return to normalcy, but if accountability comes, it will be ethical, legal, and moral.
Right now, we are careening toward the abyss of Christian nationalism. Figures such as Pete Hegseth exemplify this trend. I have publicly criticized him as embodying a militant, misogynistic vision of what he frames as “warrior Jesus.” I want to be clear that these are my views. About 95 percent of our clients—well over 100,000—are Christians, yet many are being oppressed for not being considered “Christian enough.”
We also represent, by our estimates, about 18 percent of Muslims serving in the U.S. military. We have represented members of every major religious and nonreligious tradition: Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists, agnostics, secularists, and humanists. To our knowledge, the only group we have not represented is a Scientologist. We are still waiting for Tom Cruise to call, although he is not, in fact, a Navy pilot.
Jacobsen: A brief follow-up. You’ve often traced the origins of your activism to the fallout surrounding The Passion of the Christ. With Mel Gibson now developing a sequel, what concerns—if any—does that raise for you based on what you witnessed two decades ago?
Weinstein: Yes. Mel Gibson has publicly discussed plans for a sequel, commonly referred to as The Resurrection of Christ. Based on experience, I expect to see the same dynamics we witnessed at the Air Force Academy following the release of The Passion of the Christ in 2004. The film was released on February 4, 2004, and in its aftermath, we observed pressure within military command structures to encourage attendance.
I expect similar patterns now, including military leadership using its authority to pressure, or “voluntell,” subordinates to attend screenings. I would also expect coordinated efforts to shape public perception, including audience-driven ratings activity on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes. These dynamics function as propaganda. This is precisely what ignited our involvement more than two decades ago.
We are now in our twenty-third year. It took nearly two years after those initial incidents for us to establish the foundation, which was formally launched in December 2005. We understand what this means historically and institutionally. In my view, a sequel would act as another accelerant for Christian nationalism.
I would not be surprised if senior figures attempted to normalize attendance while maintaining plausible deniability. We have already seen Pentagon officials deny issuing formal orders while simultaneously praising the film itself. This pattern—denial paired with endorsement—is familiar. It resembles political strategies where responsibility is deflected to unnamed aides while the message is still amplified.
Jacobsen: Viewed from the perspective of foreign adversaries, how does internal ideological turmoil within the U.S. military alter the strategic balance? In what ways might this kind of fragmentation serve the interests of rival states or non-state actors?
Weinstein: If you look at this from the perspective of an adversary, division is an invitation. There is a quote I often use: you cannot wish for a strong character and an easy life, because the price of one is the other. When a military force is internally divided—ideologically, religiously, or culturally—it weakens cohesion.
You are Canadian. In recent years, you have seen threats and rhetoric about forcibly absorbing territories—Greenland, for example—and even repeated statements about making Canada a “51st state.” We have also seen reports of quiet political conversations in places like Alberta about secession. All of this signals instability.
History shows that strong fighting forces have often been diverse but unified. The Roman army was composed of people from conquered territories, yet it functioned as a cohesive whole. Alexander the Great’s army was similarly diverse and effective. The British Army and Navy operated similarly during the height of the empire, incorporating people of diverse ethnicities, cultures, religions, and nonreligious traditions.
What emboldens enemies is not diversity. It is fragmentation. When adversaries see internal division, they do not hesitate. They exploit it.
Diversity is what makes us strong. What figures like Pete Hegseth argue for—explicitly or implicitly—is a vision in which the ideal American, and especially the ideal service member, is a straight, white, Christian male, preferably blond-haired and blue-eyed. History has seen that model before. It should sound familiar.
If you are sitting in Iran, Russia, North Korea, or within extremist organizations such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, or similar groups, watching your primary adversary tear itself apart is cause for celebration. Internal division generates a strategic advantage for enemies.
We are in contact with individuals currently going through basic training in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. What they describe is fear and uncertainty—particularly about how to distinguish between lawful and unlawful orders.
Service members ask themselves questions such as: if I were ordered to do something fundamentally immoral or illegal, how would I know? American history provides cautionary examples: Kent State, where National Guard troops shot students, and the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.
I am a graduate of the Air Force Academy, and my family includes three generations of graduates of the military academy. Even with four years of training, there is relatively little sustained education on evaluating the legality of orders. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, orders are presumed lawful. However, the responsibility ultimately falls on the individual service member to refuse an unlawful order. Following an illegal order can itself result in criminal liability.
As a result, there is fear, confusion, and moral distress within today’s U.S. military. The tightening grip of Christian nationalism is driving this environment. It does not require universal participation to succeed.
Historically, authoritarian movements have relied on committed minorities. Hitler did not require majority support at the outset of the Nazi movement. Stalin’s inner circle was similarly small relative to the population. In the U.S. military, structural hierarchy magnifies minority influence. When someone graduates from ROTC, Officer Training School, or a service academy and is commissioned as an ensign or second lieutenant, that individual immediately outranks the vast majority of service members. Even the most junior officer outranks the most senior enlisted personnel as a matter of law.
That structural reality means ideological capture at the officer level has a disproportionate impact. This dynamic emboldens not only nation-state adversaries but also terrorist organizations that observe fragmentation and moral paralysis within U.S. forces.
This is why this work is not a nine-to-five job. I routinely work fifteen-hour days, from early morning until late at night, including weekends and holidays. It is a war. Passive disengagement is no longer an option. People cannot simply wait and hope things resolve themselves.
This is not only about what future generations may ask—what did you do when this was happening? It is about whether life, democracy, and this long-running democratic experiment are worth defending. After nearly 250 years, sitting on the couch and pretending none of this matters is a choice with consequences.
Jacobsen: Beyond state adversaries and organized extremist groups, there’s the more diffuse threat of lone actors radicalized online. How does this broader ideological ecosystem shape individuals who may never formally affiliate with a movement, yet internalize its grievances and act independently in its name?
Weinstein: We already see organized extremist groups such as the Three Percenters and the Proud Boys functioning as part of this ecosystem. Beyond that, the more dangerous threat is lone actors radicalized online. I was a psychology major at the Air Force Academy, but I do not pretend to understand why individuals choose violence fully. What I do understand is that ideological ecosystems normalize grievance, dehumanization, and violence.
The email threat we received is an example of that radicalization. Whether or not an individual formally affiliates with a group is irrelevant. The danger lies in the ideology itself and in how it legitimizes violence in the minds of isolated individuals.
Whoever sent that message clearly believed they were protected by anonymity. The language suggested bravado—“you cannot catch me because I used Tor”—and a belief that anonymity infrastructure would shield them. That confidence appeared to embolden the threat itself: offering $20,000 to kill me and $5,000 for each staff member.
We have more than 1,200 people working with us. Like most civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, the majority are volunteers. We maintain representatives on most military installations, both domestically and overseas, including on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. That scope matters when evaluating the seriousness of the threat environment.
Whoever sent that message likely believed they were acting with the approval or blessing of Trump-era rhetoric. I receive enormous volumes of hate mail—emails that begin with slurs, phone calls, and other harassment. For some of these individuals, this behaviour is framed as righteous or sanctioned.
There is no consistent truthfulness in Trump’s public conduct. In my view, he lies habitually, and many of those around him repeat those falsehoods. We have seen demonstrably false claims circulated about individuals such as Renee Good and Alex Prady, and those lies have had real-world consequences. I struggle to understand what it takes for some people to recognize that this behaviour is wrong.
I also struggle to understand how, when Trump began running in 2015, people could not see what he was. That failure to recognize character is part of why something troubling has happened socially. When people meet now—in restaurants, libraries, or public spaces—there is an almost immediate sorting. Within seconds, people try to determine which side of the divide the other person is on.
It has become binary. You are either MAGA or not MAGA. You either resist or you collaborate. If you do neither, you are effectively collaborating. History shows similar dynamics. This was true in Germany in 1933, under Pol Pot, and during the Inquisition. That is where we are now, but with nuclear weapons and constant sabre-rattling against allies such as NATO, Canada, and Britain.
We even hear rhetoric about annexation or secession—talk about Canada as a “51st state,” or encouragement of separatist ideas elsewhere. At the same time, we do have a governing document in this country: the U.S. Constitution. That framework still matters.
When the discussion turns to Israel and Palestine, nuance is often treated as antisemitism by MAGA-aligned voices. Any acknowledgment of Palestinians as human beings is framed as hostility toward Jews. Yet the antisemitism I encounter daily is explicit and direct. I am Jewish. I am not particularly religious, but that does not matter. My surname alone is enough.
I am a lawyer. If my last name were something else and I were an auto mechanic, I am confident we would not experience even a fraction of the hatred and threats we face.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Mikey.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/12
Aneta Mihaylova is a Health Officer with Project HOPE in southern Ukraine and a practicing general surgeon who made a conscious decision to remain in the country after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Of Ukrainian and Bulgarian heritage, she chose to stay close to her community, combining frontline surgical work with humanitarian coordination at a time when Ukraine’s health system was coming under unprecedented strain.
For nearly three years, Mihaylova has occupied a rare dual role—inside operating rooms and inside coordination meetings—bridging clinical medicine, crisis communication, and health system support. Her work spans emergency trauma response, continuity of care for non-communicable diseases, mental health programming, medical training, and evidence-based advocacy with local authorities and international donors. In parallel, she is completing a master’s degree in health care management, strengthening her ability to navigate the fragile intersection of medical practice, administration, and humanitarian logistics in wartime.
Her perspective is shaped not only by Ukraine’s experience but also by comparative crisis settings. In early 2025, she traveled to the Gaza Strip in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to exchange experience with health workers operating under protracted conflict conditions. The visit reinforced a shared reality: across geographies, health professionals face similar pressures—damaged infrastructure, displaced populations, staff shortages—and the same determination to keep systems functioning.
Since February 2022, Ukraine’s health sector has endured more than 2,254 documented attacks on health care facilities, according to the World Health Organization. In this interview, Mihaylova reflects on how needs have evolved from immediate trauma care to more complex, hybrid demands: rehabilitation and prosthetics for war-related injuries, continuity of chronic disease treatment for displaced populations, and expanded psychosocial support for patients and providers alike. She also explains the ethical principles that guide humanitarian storytelling—ongoing consent, privacy-first safeguards, and the refusal to retraumatize vulnerable people for visibility. As an example of responsible advocacy translating into tangible results, she highlights the reconstructed rehabilitation department at Mykolaiv Regional Clinical Hospital, where documented patient needs helped shape an accessible, modern facility now serving hundreds each year.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Since February 2022, how have health and humanitarian needs in Ukraine evolved, particularly in front-line regions?
Aneta Mihaylova: Since February 2022, health and humanitarian needs in Ukraine have shifted from immediate emergency response to a complex mix of chronic, psychological, and long-term systemic challenges, particularly in eastern, southern, and northeastern front-line regions.
In the early months, priorities were trauma care, evacuation, the deployment of emergency supplies, and keeping hospitals operational during direct attacks. Today, the needs have shifted toward long-term care, with a greater demand for specialized medical care, physical rehabilitation, and prosthetics for war-related injuries. In response, Project HOPE launched an initiative last year in collaboration with rehab4u to strengthen Ukraine’s rehabilitation ecosystem and advance the social inclusion of persons with disabilities and civilian war victims.
Millions of displaced people rely heavily on primary healthcare clinics that were never designed to serve such large populations. Access to care for non-communicable diseases — cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and cancer — has become a major challenge, driven by infrastructure damage, disrupted supply chains, and loss of medical personnel. Interruptions in chronic care pose serious long-term risks.
At the same time, the health system itself is under attack, with more than 2,254 attacks on health care facilities since February 2022 as verified by the WHO. Providers have relocated, been mobilized, or experienced repeat trauma. Health facilities operate with reduced staffing, an unstable power supply, and ongoing security threats. What once would have been “routine” care now requires extensive coordination, flexibility, and external support just to maintain continuity.
Today’s needs are less visible than in 2022 — but no less urgent. The evolution has been one of acute crisis → protracted strain → hybrid needs, with repeated attacks on civil infrastructure, especially the energy, water, and heating supply system, compounding the challenges.
Alongside what Project HOPE already does— including Mobile and Local Medical Units, ambulance services, expanded pharmaceutical and equipment donations, and comprehensive staff training (BLS, ALS, TDTR, EPALS, and tailored courses for doctors and nurses) — Project HOPE is preparing to support winterization efforts. This will provide facilities with critical winter supplies and fuel to ensure continuity of care during the most difficult months.
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Jacobsen: As both a surgeon and a humanitarian coordinator, how do you navigate the tension between bearing witness to suffering and protecting patients’ privacy and dignity?
Mihaylova: This balance is at the heart of humanitarian work.
We meet people at their most vulnerable moments, and many of us — including myself — are trained in Psychological First Aid, which ensures that every interaction is safe, respectful, and grounded in empathy. The way a story is told can either protect a person or expose them to further harm.
A few principles guide us include: Consent is ongoing, not a one-time form. A person can stop at any moment. We never push anyone to relive trauma. If a story can be told without graphic detail, we choose the gentlest version. We focus on resilience, needs, and solutions — not suffering. We avoid identifying details if there is any risk to a person’s safety.
Ultimately, storytelling is not about data points or impact metrics. It is about human beings. Protecting their dignity always comes before visibility or publicity.
Jacobsen: Can you describe a specific case in which responsible storytelling—grounded in consent and evidence—directly contributed to improved patient care?
Mihaylova: One powerful example comes from our work with secondary care facilities in southern Ukraine. Last year, the rehabilitation department at the Mykolaiv Regional Clinical Hospital reopened following a full reconstruction, which directly improved care for hundreds of patients.
Before the renovation, people recovering from neurological, traumatic, or musculoskeletal conditions had very limited access to modern, barrier-free rehabilitation. Patients raised these concerns with the hospital and regional health authorities, and our team heard the same issues during field visits. The gaps were clear, but what made the difference was documenting those needs responsibly—grounding the story in evidence, listening to patients, and ensuring we weren’t exposing anyone to risk.
By working with the Department of Health and the Ministry of Health’s Restoration Office, we translated those lived experiences into a data-backed case for reconstruction. That storytelling helped the hospital and regional authorities prioritize the rehabilitation department and design it around real, practical needs: wide, accessible corridors and doorways, adapted bathrooms, multifunctional beds, dedicated therapy spaces, and rooms for psychological support.
The result is a facility that now provides free, high-quality rehabilitation to approximately 800 patients annually. And for people recovering from life-altering injuries, that means more than a better building — it means dignity, access, and a real chance at long-term recovery.
To me, it shows how responsible storytelling can drive change: when you elevate the right voices, ground them in evidence, and pair them with strong partnerships, you can help turn identified needs into tangible improvements for patients.
More information is available by clicking here.
Jacobsen: When determining which frontline realities to elevate to donors, policymakers, or the broader public, what criteria guide your decision-making?
Mihaylova: In the field, we prioritize stories that reflect clear, evidence-based needs or demonstrate impact, while always ensuring the privacy and safety of the individuals involved. When deciding which stories to share with donors, policymakers, or the wider public, we carefully balance the potential to raise awareness with our responsibility to protect individuals, maintain program integrity, and follow the principle of ‘do no harm.’
Some stories help donors understand funding gaps. Others help policymakers recognize system-level needs. And others help the public connect with the human reality of the war.
I believe the right story is the one that strengthens program decisions, deepens community understanding, and improves the care we can provide to the people we serve
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time and for sharing your insights.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/06
Psychotherapy has long wrestled with a deceptively simple question: how does the self hold together amid competing identities, inherited norms, and internal contradictions? In their work on memetic self-mapping, psychologists Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson and Teela Robertson offer a visual and collaborative approach to this problem, treating identity not as a fixed essence but as a dynamic constellation of culturally transmitted “memes.”
Developed over decades of clinical practice and research, self-mapping invites clients to narrate who they are and then co-construct a visual map that reveals patterns of meaning, emotional charge, and behavioral momentum. The method emphasizes the client as expert, resists therapist overreach, and adapts across therapeutic modalities—from cognitive-behavioral to narrative and psychodynamic approaches.
In this interview, the authors explain how memetic self-mapping works in practice, how it surfaces ruminative loops, and how therapists can navigate cultural norms—both sustaining and harmful—without imposing moral frameworks of their own.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Your work treats the self as culturally constructed—an assemblage of “memes” that cluster into a relatively stable identity. When visually mapping the self in psychotherapy or research, what criteria determine which memes are included, and how they are grouped or linked?
Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: In all cases, the client is the expert in who they are. Using the narrative method of self-map construction, the client describes who they are in story form, and the psychologist segments the narrative into phrases with a single theme and places those segments under the same name in a “bin.” Those bins containing segments that encompass affective, connotative, and behavioural dimensions are designated as memes. Memes that share affective, connotative, cognitive, or behavioural dimensions are declared to be linked. Using the quicker “forty persons” method, the client lists ten persons they are, ten things they believe to be true, ten things they like about themselves, and ten things they would change about themselves if they could, and then ranks each of the four lists. The psychologist then explores with the client affective, connotative, and behavioral dimensions of each potential meme listed. In all cases, the psychologist reviews the initial map with the client and explores elements that may be absent, thereby ensuring a rich, thick self-description.
Teela Robertson: To add to my dad’s summary, in the “forty persons” people often list things that end up meaning the same thing to them, so those get put together. Based on the general history, we may ask about other items we identified but don’t see on their lists and assess whether they should be represented.
Once we have determined which are memes and stay, the client rank orders each list from 1 (easiest to change or give up) to 10 (hardest to change or give up). This indicates the degree of centrality of the meme, with items ranked 10 being at the centre. From there, we position the remaining items, starting with the lowest-ranked ones, and use our judgment about what we understand them to mean and the history to estimate which items should be near. As we make connections and co-construct the map, items are rearranged as clusters form. Creating the map is more of an art form and uses client input.
Jacobsen: Because mapping involves interpretation, therapist bias is an obvious concern. What safeguards are built into memetic self-mapping to prevent the therapist’s assumptions from shaping the client’s identity map?
Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: Since the client is viewed as the expert on themselves, the client has the final word on the construction of the self-map. Ultimately, the map is considered complete only if it resonates with the client on a visceral level.
Teela Robertson: Therapist bias can’t be completely removed; therapists should remain mindful of it in practice. In mapping, the best defense is to ensure we listen to how clients define items so we know what they mean to the client, rather than assuming their definition is similar to ours. For instance, I might have a client who adds a daughter to their map, and for them, this might be a caregiver role, one of duty and responsibility, while for another person, a daughter might be more about friendship, fun, support, and love. The connections each one has can be quite different, even though we all have a sense of what being a son or daughter means to us.
Jacobsen: You note that self-maps can reveal ruminative loops—tight cognitive and emotional circuits that keep clients stuck. When such loops become visible on a map, what kinds of interventions tend to be most effective?
Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: Self‑maps reveal the existing off‑ramps within ruminative circuits—pathways that must already be present, because without them the loop could not function as part of the self in the first place. The client learns to identify these off‑ramps so they can use them when rumination arises. Therapists, however, are also experts in facilitating change. Together, therapist and client can use techniques such as reframing and behavioural experimentation to develop new off‑ramps, making these circuits less isolating and more flexible.
Teela Robertson: One place therapy can get stuck is in focusing on changing undesirable behaviours. If what we are targeting is central to the self, attempting to eliminate it can be destabilizing. Often, it’s better to begin by strengthening desired aspects or by adding new items that already have strong connections within the self. If we create more pathways out of the rumination cycle, then we weaken the cycle, and the client can identify tools that help get them unstuck. Re-framing and behavioural experiments are two tools that I find especially useful.
Jacobsen: You describe memetic mapping as modality-flexible, usable across CBT, humanistic, narrative, psychodynamic, and other approaches. How does the method adapt across these theoretical frameworks without losing coherence?
Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: As I argued in The Evolved Self, the modern self—along with the mind’s capacity to take itself as an object—has become the central paradigm across all schools of psychology. Each tradition holds a mental model of a healthy, functioning self and works to help clients acquire the self‑characteristics it considers essential. The frameworks differ, but they all reference this same core self.
When I demonstrated memetic mapping to a graduate class at the University of Calgary, the students’ reactions illustrated this beautifully. A cognitive‑behavioural therapist said, “Well, Lloyd, all you’re doing is CBT. You create a map of a person’s self and then use cognitive and behavioural techniques so the client can improve it.” A narrative therapist disagreed: “No, the memes outline a plot. Lloyd is helping clients re‑write their scripts.” From a psychodynamic perspective, the self is the ego that emerges from the interplay of the id and the superego, yet retains sufficient agency to reshape itself through therapy.
My own training was in the methods of Alfred Adler, whom Albert Ellis, founder of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, called “the first humanist psychologist to view the person holistically.” That comment captures the point: each school has its own techniques, but they all begin from the same foundational assumption about the self. Memetic mapping simply provides a structure flexible enough to integrate with any of them.
Teela Robertson: Memetic mapping is a technique to create a visual representation of the self. It provides a framework that is then interpreted in terms of the modality the therapist conceptualizes. While we lay out a concrete way to do mapping, it’s quite adaptable to different modalities. The modality a therapist uses and the client’s goals can shape which parts we focus on and the types of questions we ask to help the client make sense of the connections and how they are affecting them. From there, we might suggest skills or use scaffolding to elicit what the client produces; we might even simply observe what the client spontaneously does.
Jacobsen: Your approach emphasizes the client as expert and is intended to be cross-culturally applicable. How do you work with culturally transmitted norms that may be harmful—either to the client or to others—without imposing external moral judgments?
Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: One of the classic ethical questions raised in my undergraduate days was, “Would you counsel Al Capone to become a better criminal?” The answer highlights a core principle of our profession: psychologists do not tell clients how to live their lives. Instead, we help them examine the consequences of their choices and explore alternatives. I have worked with repeat offenders who have spent much of their lives in prison, and a question I often ask is, “How is that working out for you?” Capone may have been a highly successful criminal, but he ultimately died alone in prison.
Our method is cross‑cultural because we treat each client as a “culture of one.” While people given to identity politics might say that those of a particular culture must act in certain ways, and while most of the time that is not a problem, when people are taught to hate, discriminate, disparage others, or abuse children, they have a choice to act otherwise.
In those cases, clients still retain agency. They can decide whether the cultural messages they have received have served them or others well, and choose to act differently. Our role is to support that reflective process, not to impose a moral code, but to help clients recognize the real consequences of the norms they follow and the possibilities available to them.
Teela Robertson: Curiosity is probably the most helpful tool for therapists. We need to understand the beliefs and norms and help the client understand them as well. It is not our role as therapists to change people’s beliefs or practices, but we can help them think critically, evaluate their norms from different perspectives, and understand the potential risks and benefits of the society in which they live. I haven’t had to deal with this in severe forms, but what I often see is ignorance on issues and, therefore, negative bias and harm from that lack of knowledge. I think there should be caution regarding differing views or ways we personally view as harmful, versus those that genuinely infringe on human rights or might give rise to a duty to report. The former is a matter of therapist bias (prioritizing our own views), while the latter has more serious implications.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Lloyd and Teela.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/05
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s national police have been compelled to rethink the very foundations of civilian law enforcement. Policing that once centered on routine public order and criminal investigation now unfolds amid missile strikes, drone warfare, cyber disruption, and prolonged infrastructure collapse. In this environment, the police operate at the uneasy intersection of emergency response, national defense, and public trust.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Yuliia Vitasivna Hirdvilis, Head of Communications at Ukraine’s National Police, about how these adaptations function in practice. She explains new protocols designed to protect first responders from so-called “double-tap” strikes, the evolution of frontline evacuation units known as the “White Angels,” the expanding demands of explosive-ordnance clearance, and the growing importance of cyber coordination. The conversation also examines how policing reforms tied to European integration continue to advance during wartime—and what it takes to keep personnel effective under relentless physical and psychological strain.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: “Double-tap” or follow-on strikes pose a serious risk to civilians and first responders. What operational changes has the national police introduced to reduce casualties at impact sites?
Yuliia Hirdvilis: The national police have introduced a clearly defined operational algorithm that regulates coordination between territorial duty officers and the central police command during periods of heightened threat. This system is designed to ensure continuous communication and the exchange of information on the risk of repeated artillery, missile, drone, or rocket attacks.
In practice, this means that police patrols and other responders working at the site of an initial strike receive immediate warnings if there is credible information about a possible follow-on attack. When such a threat is identified, officers and service vehicles are promptly withdrawn to designated safe locations. These measures are intended to reduce casualties among first responders while preserving the ability to resume response operations as soon as conditions allow.
Jacobsen: How do police evacuation teams prioritize rescues from frontline settlements under constant FPV-drone and artillery threat?
Hirdvilis: Evacuation operations in frontline areas are conducted in accordance with established police algorithms, but are always guided by an assessment of the current threat environment. This assessment is based on intelligence data, the intensity and frequency of shelling, the types of weapons used, and the likelihood of repeated attacks.
Priority is given to the most vulnerable groups: people with disabilities or limited mobility, elderly residents who cannot react quickly to danger, families with children, and civilians located in buildings or areas that have suffered critical destruction or remain under constant threat. At the same time, even the most carefully prepared plans must remain flexible. Conditions in frontline territories can change within minutes, requiring evacuation teams to adjust routes and priorities based on road damage, weather, available safe corridors, and the feasibility of rapid transport.
Police officers often carry out these missions under direct fire. Service vehicles have been damaged by shell fragments and FPV-drone strikes, underscoring the risks involved. The history of the “White Angels” evacuation teams reflects this reality. The first crew was formed in the town of Marinka in the Donetsk region, when police officers went beyond their formal duties to rescue civilians who had lost hope of receiving help.
Today, the White Angels consist of 24 mobile groups operating in the most dangerous regions of Ukraine. Over three years, they have carried out 9,775 deployments and evacuated 27,702 civilians, including 7,337 children. In addition, they have provided first aid to hundreds of victims, transported the wounded and seriously ill to hospitals, and recovered the bodies of the dead so that families could say farewell to their loved ones.
Jacobsen: With mine and unexploded-ordnance clearance likely to take decades, how is the national police preparing staff through IMAS-standard training and equipment?
Hirdvilis: Police explosive-ordnance disposal units play an essential role in protecting civilians and supporting national security. They are actively involved in operational demining and clearance activities across multiple regions, including Donetsk, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv.
To date, these units have completed more than 29,000 service deployments, inspected over 15,000 hectares of territory, seized more than 153,000 explosive objects and 4,270 tonnes of explosives, and destroyed approximately 94,000 explosive items. This work remains ongoing and will continue for many years.
Since the beginning of 2022, international technical-assistance programs have helped strengthen these capabilities. In particular, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, working through the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, has supported specialized training for 139 police officers from special-purpose units. At the same time, the need for additional equipment, modern tools, and initiation devices remains a significant challenge for explosive-ordnance units.
Jacobsen: CERT-UA reports persistent and diverse cyber incidents. What protocols allow for rapid evidence collection, disruption, and public warning?
Hirdvilis: To prevent and respond effectively to cyber incidents, Ukraine relies on standardized information-sharing rules based on the Traffic Light Protocol, which has been approved by the National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity. These rules are aligned with guidance from the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity and international incident-response standards.
A unified interagency procedure defines each stage of cyber-incident response, including detection, analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery. It also requires immediate notification to CERT-UA and enables the rapid exchange of indicators of compromise among law enforcement, cybersecurity, and intelligence agencies.
Additional government resolutions govern the collection and preservation of electronic evidence and public warning mechanisms. Taken together, these frameworks ensure the rapid identification of cyber threats, the proper documentation of evidence, the containment of attacks, and timely public communication through official CERT-UA channels. Police cyber units also regularly publish guidance and recommendations to help citizens avoid becoming victims of cybercrime.
Jacobsen: Large-scale attacks on energy and gas facilities have become routine. How do police balance blackout-related public order, crime prevention, and site security?
Hirdvilis: Massive attacks on energy and gas infrastructure pose serious challenges to the state’s overall security system. In response, the police operate under reinforced and well-tested procedures during periods of widespread power outages.
Responsibilities are clearly distributed among police units, and coordination scenarios are regularly practiced with the State Emergency Service, medical responders, military administrations, and both patrol and criminal police. During power outages, police not only secure critical facilities but also increase patrols in areas most vulnerable to criminal activity. Patrol routes and staffing levels are adjusted to maintain public order, prevent offences, and ensure the stable functioning of key state facilities.
Jacobsen: Policing reforms featured prominently in the European Commission’s 2025 enlargement package. Which priorities matter most for the National Police now?
Hirdvilis: European integration remains a strategic priority for the National Police. Current efforts focus on implementing transparent, merit-based procedures for selecting leaders at both the central and regional levels, aligned with European standards.
Additional priorities include implementing a comprehensive action plan to combat organized crime based on Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessments, approving a new strategy for the 2026–2030 period, strengthening institutional and operational capacity through interagency cooperation, and appointing a permanent national coordinator for organized-crime policy.
Jacobsen: Sustaining frontline effectiveness requires managing fatigue and casualty risk. How is the police addressing these pressures?
Hirdvilis: The full-scale invasion has fundamentally altered the security environment and, with it, the work of the police. These changes have affected public expectations, technological requirements, and human-resources policy. Particular attention is being paid to staffing and supporting special-purpose and rapid-response units, including operational assault brigades and patrol battalions.
At the same time, the police remain a civilian institution governed by law. During martial law, police units operate strictly within their legal mandate to support national defense, territorial defense, and public order. Investigative units have opened more than 183,000 criminal proceedings related to crimes committed in connection with the armed conflict, with documented damages exceeding $2 billion.
Despite extraordinary conditions, the National Police continue to adapt—legally, operationally, and institutionally—to protect civilians, uphold the rule of law, and maintain accountability.
Jacobsen: Thank you for your time and insights.
Special thanks to the Communications Department of the National Police of Ukraine for facilitating this interview.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/02
For decades, economists have struggled to explain a paradox at the heart of modern capitalism: women’s educational attainment and labour-force participation have risen steadily, yet gender gaps in pay, power, and economic security remain stubbornly persistent. Much of the explanation lies not in markets alone, but in what markets fail to count.
Misty L. Heggeness, an economist and associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs & Administration, has spent her career interrogating those blind spots. A former senior advisor at the U.S. Census Bureau, Heggeness now focuses on the economic value of care—both paid and unpaid—and the cultural narratives that shape how women move through work, family, and public life. She is the author of Swiftynomics, a book that uses Taylor Swift’s career as a cultural lens to explore women’s economic agency across the life course, and the co-founder of The Care Board, a Sloan Foundation–supported data project that makes visible the labour long excluded from official statistics.
In this conversation, Heggeness discusses how women’s paid and unpaid work has evolved across generations, why domestic technology and service economies produce uneven benefits, how culture acts as both accelerator and brake on economic participation, and why redefining what counts as “work” is essential to building a more accurate—and more equitable—economic system.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How do you define Swiftynomics as an economic concept, and what does the term capture about women’s roles as economic actors that more traditional frameworks tend to overlook?
Misty Heggeness: Swiftynomics is about understanding how women move through their lives and careers as economic agents. The goal is to highlight the many ways women are economically active and contribute to society today. Taylor Swift is the muse.
Jacobsen: That’s interesting. I’ve conducted several interviews in which Taylor Swift has come up, including on major podcasts and in discussions focused on how economics translates into ticket sales, cultural clout, and personal branding. The idea works because it extends beyond Swift herself to figures such as Oprah Winfrey and other prominent billionaires, including MacKenzie Scott, pointing to a broader pattern rather than a single outlier. When thinking about how women move through their lives, how does women’s economic output—strictly from a financial perspective—change across the lifespan when they are active participants in the formal economy? There is, of course, a separate and important conversation about the informal economy.
Heggeness: One of the best ways to understand this is to look at the work of Claudia Goldin, who won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2023. It is often called the “Nobel Prize in Economics,” but it is technically a separate prize administered by the Nobel Foundation. Goldin’s work has examined long-run changes in women’s labour-force participation and earnings, including how these patterns differ across cohorts and over time.
Historically, women have always done substantial economic work, but their participation in paid formal employment varied widely by class, place, and period. In many eras, paid work outside the home was more common among lower-income women, including domestic service and other wage labour, while marriage and motherhood often reduced or interrupted formal employment for many middle- and upper-class women. As women’s educational attainment increased—especially in the mid-20th century and later—more women entered paid work and professional occupations, though many still exited or reduced paid work around marriage and childbearing.
A typical mid-to-late 20th-century pattern was that many women worked before marriage, then stepped back from paid work during the early child-rearing years, and later returned—often into jobs with limited advancement compared to continuous career paths. More recently, a larger share of women have pursued higher education, entered longer-term careers, and either stayed in the workforce through childrearing or stepped away for shorter periods, reflecting changing norms, opportunity structures, and constraints.
Overall, women’s relationship to the formal economy has shifted substantially across decades and generations.
Jacobsen: Since at least the mid-20th century, particularly in more developed societies, daily life has become increasingly automated—washing machines being a familiar example. While this has reduced the time required for domestic labour, it has by no means eliminated it, and research consistently shows that women continue to perform a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic and care work. How does this persistent imbalance shape women’s economic lives over time?
Heggeness: It definitely has an impact. I will start with two points. One concerns an ongoing debate about whether innovation in domestic technologies has helped or hindered women.
The intuitive assumption is that it helps because it reduces the time required to wash clothes, cook meals, and complete other household tasks. However, an alternative argument suggests that these innovations may, at least initially, have worsened women’s situation.
Before domestic automation, household labour was often shared among family members. Washing clothes without a washing machine, for example, was so labour-intensive that women typically relied on children or other household members for help. Domestic work was often communal—led by women, but involving many people.
With automation, these tasks became easier for a single person to complete. While this freed up time for children or other adults in the household, it also meant that one person still had to perform the work, and that person was usually the mother. As a result, domestic labour shifted from a shared activity to one that was more isolated for women.
This pattern was most pronounced early in the adoption of household technologies—such as the transition from hand-washing clothes to washing machines or from open fires to stoves.
Today, however, innovation and service delivery function differently. Many contemporary services have meaningfully freed up time for parents, including mothers. I will give a personal example.
I have two teenagers, and my spouse works in another city. He works remotely from our home part of the time, but he also travels frequently for audits and evaluations. As a result, I often manage the household alone with my children. I also have a full-time job as a professor, which typically means working more than forty hours a week. My children have extracurricular activities, so there is a great deal to coordinate.
Since the pandemic, innovations in service delivery have been constructive. If I am teaching and cannot get home in time to prepare a meal before my child needs to leave for an activity, I can use food delivery services in a pinch. My children do not drive yet, so transportation can also be a challenge. On one or two occasions, we used Uber to bring our son home from school when neither of us could pick him up.
These types of paid service innovations help make life more manageable for people—both women and men—who are balancing careers with family responsibilities. Grocery delivery is another example. It removes the time required to drive to the store, shop, and return home. Meal services such as HelloFresh similarly reduce planning and preparation time.
Jacobsen: Does a woman’s level of education meaningfully shape how this economic pattern unfolds over the course of her life? Given that women are now, on average, highly educated—though outcomes continue to vary sharply by sector—how central is education to your analysis? Are there particular industries or segments of the labour market where you observe the most pronounced shifts, divergences, or volatility in women’s economic output and participation within the formal economy?
Heggeness: Socioeconomic status definitely matters. If a woman wants to free up time from domestic chores and activities, she usually has to rely on paid services or live close to relatives. Women without nearby family networks or in lower-paying jobs face greater constraints because they cannot afford to pay for services.
There is also a significant emotional and mental burden involved in balancing these demands. That stress exists across the income distribution, but it is compounded when households have lower incomes and fewer resources. This can be due to lower individual earnings or to being a single parent, in which household income is substantially lower than it would be with another adult present.
One area that deserves closer attention is how women at the lower end of the earnings distribution—women without another adult in the household or without family nearby—have their ability to be productive and actively engaged in the workforce constrained. These structural conditions often limit their capacity to balance multiple, time-intensive responsibilities.
Jacobsen: Are there metrics that are now—or are beginning to become—mainstream that incorporate unpaid labour alongside paid labour markets, offering a more complete and accurate picture of women’s economic lives?
Heggeness: Yes. Alongside publishing Swiftynomics—which uses Taylor Swift as a cultural reference point to examine women’s roles in the economy—I have also worked on a parallel project funded by the Sloan Foundation. This project is a public data dashboard called The Care Board, which is available at careboard.org. It is one of my long-term passion projects.
Before entering academia, I worked for about twelve years in federal statistical agencies. That experience made me acutely aware of the limitations of official economic statistics and how much women’s economic work and agency are overlooked. When I moved into academia, I wanted to address those gaps directly.
The Care Board incorporates forms of economic activity that are often excluded from traditional measures, including unpaid household labour and care work. These activities are folded into broader economic indicators to provide a more complete picture of how monetary value is created.
One of the most striking findings relates to labour participation. Traditional statistics show that fathers have very high labour-force participation rates—typically in the mid-90 percent range—although this has declined slightly over the past decade as household roles have become more fluid. Mothers’ labour-force participation in the formal economy was historically lower, often in the low-to-mid 60 percent range, but today it is closer to 70-75 percent.
If we look only at paid labour, men are more economically active than women. However, when unpaid work is included—such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and childcare—a different picture emerges. On average, women perform about 1 additional hour of total work than men.
That extra hour may seem modest daily, but over the course of a year, it adds up to several additional months of work. When economic activity is measured comprehensively, women are, in fact, more economically active than men.
Correcting how work is captured in economic statistics challenges deeply held assumptions about labour, productivity, and contribution. One of the central goals of the Care Board project is to produce more accurate estimates of total economic activity, particularly the work performed by women that has long gone uncounted.
Jacobsen: Culture matters for economics beyond the attention economy; broader cultural narratives shape economic behavior and outcomes. As women’s visions for their own lives expand—and as society’s acceptance of women’s broader roles grows—economic output is affected. How do competing cultural narratives act as accelerators or constraints on women’s economic participation and their ability to realize their potential?
At one end, some narratives confine women primarily to the home, limiting their participation in public and economic life. More moderate versions permit work outside the home but restrict it to a narrow range of socially acceptable roles. In contrast, other narratives argue for full participation across economic and intellectual life on equal footing with men. As these frameworks coexist and compete over time, do their cultural ebbs and flows meaningfully shape the degree to which women can contribute within the formal economy?
Heggeness: Possibly. As an economist by training, I frame this in terms of economic principles. Economics is often mistaken for finance, banking, or investment, but at its core, it is about how people allocate limited resources.
Individuals have preferences—things they enjoy and things they do not. They use their available resources, including time and skills, to maximize outcomes they value, whether that is income, satisfaction, or other goals.
At the macro level, economic growth and development depend on how well a society harnesses its available talent. A well-functioning economy aligns people’s skills, abilities, interests, and preferences with productive activities as efficiently as possible. When this alignment is effective, productivity increases and economic growth follows.
From this perspective, gender norms that restrict who is expected or allowed to do certain kinds of work are economically inefficient. The focus should not be on what men or women are “supposed” to do, but on matching individuals’ skills, interests, intellect, and talents with the roles they are best suited to perform.
People tend to perform best at tasks that bring them satisfaction and meaning. When individuals find their work fulfilling, they are generally willing to invest more effort and persist longer than when they are constrained to roles that do not align with their interests. This alignment benefits both individual well-being and overall economic performance.
My view is this. Society needs people to do many different kinds of work. We need people to build roads. We need people to work in competent, ethical governments that spend public resources wisely. We also need people to raise the next generation.
That can mean becoming a teacher and educating children in schools, but it also means raising one’s own children to be ethical, healthy, and productive members of society. If someone prefers to raise their children at home, they should be supported in doing so.
If someone wants to work outside the home and place their child in high-quality, affordable childcare—where that child is well cared for and educated—they should also be supported.
We do ourselves a disservice when we get trapped in culture wars over whether women should stay home, work outside the home, hold only limited jobs, or pursue any career available to men. From an economic perspective, the question is misplaced.
What matters is aligning people—regardless of gender—with the work they are best suited to do. That alignment is what ultimately supports economic growth.
I also think society would be better off if people focused less on policing others’ choices and more on developing themselves into the best versions of who they can be. If more people did that, culture-war conflicts would lose much of their force.
Women, in particular, have become more resistant to being pulled into false binaries, such as stay-at-home mothers versus working mothers. Attempts to reignite those divisions still occur, but they no longer resonate the way they once did.
There has always been an ebb and flow in public discourse about women’s roles. One additional point is that these debates limit men as well. When we prescribe roles for women, we implicitly prescribe roles for men—often assuming that men should always be full-time participants in the labour market.
That assumption excludes men who want to stay home with children or who are partnered with higher-earning spouses. Restrictive gender norms constrain everyone, not just women.
Jacobsen: We are also living through a period of renewed social stereotyping, much of it intensified by social media. On one end is the “manosphere”; on the other, women are often flattened into caricatured identities—such as the “boss babe” or the “tradwife”—frequently aligned with political orientation. These simplified representations may resemble some lived experiences, but they rarely capture whole, complex individuals.
Heggeness: I will add an aside: I actually find the so-called tradwives interesting because they are working. Many of them are active on social media and generating income. They have found a way to balance staying home, caring for their families, and earning money.
Tradwives are not stay-at-home, non-working mothers. They are participating economically—sometimes quite successfully—often by provoking strong reactions.
Jacobsen: Turning back to Swiftynomics, where can readers find the book, and are there any aphorisms or lines from the research you conducted over the past year that you feel especially capture its core themes?
Heggeness: The book is available through major retailers, including Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores.
Rather than identifying a single favourite quote, I structured the book so that each chapter opens with a quotation from Taylor Swift—drawn from interviews, magazine articles, or award speeches. I had not expected to find a fitting quote for every chapter, but her public statements articulate women’s lived experiences so clearly that I was able to match a quote to each theme.
The chapters cover topics such as women’s economic eras—loosely aligned with different phases of Swift’s career—as well as motherhood, misogyny, and generational relationships. One chapter, for example, reflects on women who came before us and those who come after, drawing on Swift’s reflections about her grandmother, Marjorie, and her mother, Andrea. I am particularly proud of how those quotations frame each chapter and connect personal experience with broader economic themes.
Jacobsen: Misty, thank you very much for your time and your expertise.
Heggeness: Great. Thank you very much for your time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/03
Sami Timimi is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, now semi-retired, whose work challenges how modern mental health systems define “normal” and “disorder.” The author of Searching for Normal, Timimi argues that many contemporary psychiatric categories rest on subjective judgments and shifting thresholds rather than identifiable pathology. As a result, diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, and depression have expanded across ages, genders, and social contexts without corresponding advances in biological understanding.
His work draws a sharp distinction between descriptive checklists and conditions with clear causal markers, while emphasizing psychosocial context, adversity, culture, and meaning-making. Timimi has warned that diagnostic labeling can unintentionally reduce agency, encourage treatment escalation, and transform temporary distress into lifelong patient identity. He advocates for humane, evidence-aware care that keeps change and recovery central.
In this interview, Timimi explains why “normal” remains a deeply contested concept in mental health practice, how elastic diagnostic criteria invite expansion, and why psychiatry’s reliance on description rather than causation carries long-term consequences for individuals and societies alike.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You have spent much of your career questioning how psychiatry classifies children’s behavior, which ultimately raises a basic but unsettled question: what do we mean by “normal”? Why is that concept so contested in contemporary mental health?
Sami Timimi: The keyword in my book title is searching, because normal is not something given or fixed. Our ideas about mental health—what it means to be healthy or unhealthy—are deeply shaped by value judgments. They are not purely objective.
Take definitions of mental health that are widely cited, such as the World Health Organization’s. Mental health is framed as a state of well-being that enables people to cope with stress, realize their abilities, work productively, and contribute to their community. These phrases sound reasonable, but they are open to interpretation. They cannot be reduced to clear, objective parameters.
Once you look closely, you see that normative language enters these definitions very quickly. That creates a problem because it blurs the boundary between mental health and mental disorder. Yet we often speak as if those boundaries are precise and measurable, as if diagnoses function in the same way as they do elsewhere in medicine.
If you extend this observation across psychiatric diagnoses—particularly common ones—you see the same pattern. Many categories rely on interpreting experiences and behaviors rather than identifying a distinct pathological process.
Depression is a clear example. It is typically operationalized through symptom lists. But what counts as “low mood”? When does negative thinking represent a disorder rather than a proportionate response to adversity or loss?
ADHD raises similar questions. Diagnostic criteria repeatedly use terms like “often,” as in “often fidgets” or “often has difficulty sustaining attention.” How often is “often”? What is developmentally typical at a given age? These thresholds are not anchored to anything external.
In most areas of medicine, diagnosis aims—at least in principle—to determine what is driving the symptoms. If you have a cough, your doctor does not simply label it a “cough disorder.” They assess possible causes because treatment depends on understanding what is producing the symptom.
Psychiatry largely lacks that process. There are no objective investigations that can confirm or rule out most diagnoses, as patients assume they do. That gap is a major reason why “normal” remains so unstable in mental health.
Jacobsen: You have argued that psychiatry relies on description rather than causation. What follows from that distinction?
Timimi: What we have is a system of classification that is primarily descriptive. That is not inherently wrong, but it becomes problematic when description is mistaken for explanation.
In conditions like diabetes, there are external markers—blood glucose levels—that exist independently of the clinician’s interpretation. You can measure them over time, assess treatment effects, and refine care accordingly. Those markers are empirical anchors.
In psychiatry, we do not have that kind of external anchor for most diagnoses. The assessment depends heavily on subjective judgment. As a result, diagnostic categories are vulnerable to expansion.
Whenever you see the word disorder attached to a cluster of behaviors, it should prompt caution. In medicine, we do not speak of an “asthma disorder” or a “pneumonia disorder.” Those conditions refer to identifiable pathological processes. In psychiatry, the term often creates the impression that something similarly concrete has been identified, when it has not.
Without empirical anchors, diagnostic concepts tend to grow—especially during periods of widespread social distress.
Jacobsen: You’ve described that growth as both horizontal and vertical. ADHD is often the example you return to. Why?
Timimi: ADHD illustrates the process very clearly. It began as a rare diagnosis—hyperkinetic disorder—applied primarily to children with extreme levels of motor activity. Many of those children also had significant learning difficulties, which were initially considered sufficient explanations for their behavior.
Over time, the category expanded horizontally. Attention difficulties were added. Thresholds were lowered. Prevalence estimates rose from a few percent to five percent, and in many countries today, around ten percent of children are considered at risk of receiving the diagnosis.
Then came vertical expansion. ADHD was reframed as a lifelong condition. Adult ADHD entered the diagnostic landscape, and the criteria were adjusted accordingly. Forgetfulness, disorganization, and difficulty meeting deadlines became adult manifestations of the same condition—experiences that are widespread in the general population.
More recently, the concept of masking has been introduced, suggesting that some individuals, particularly women, hide symptoms in public while struggling privately. This shift has brought large numbers of women into the diagnostic category. Adult women are now the fastest-growing group receiving ADHD diagnoses.
At no point during this expansion has there been biological evidence identifying a specific abnormality shared by those diagnosed. Yet the category continues to widen, and with it our definition of what counts as “normal” narrows.
Jacobsen: Statistically, that seems to invert the meaning of normality itself.
Timimi: Exactly. A recent study illustrates this well. Researchers exposed university students to content explaining ADHD and describing behaviors associated with it. Before exposure, about twenty-eight percent of participants wondered whether they might have ADHD. After exposure, that figure rose to fifty-eight percent.
Under those conditions, the minority becomes the group that does not have ADHD.
Jacobsen: What, then, would count as an empirical anchor? Are there examples—historical or current—where identifying a causal marker transformed how we understood a condition?
Timimi: There are clear examples. A subset of people presenting with psychosis have been found to have autoimmune encephalitis, such as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. That is a specific inflammatory process affecting the brain.
Historically, many patients in nineteenth-century asylums had tertiary syphilis before its neurological effects were understood. Epilepsy was once attributed to psychological conflict. Huntington’s disease was eventually linked to a genetic mutation.
In each case, identifying a material process allowed clinicians to define caseness—grouping people based on a shared underlying feature. From there, you can build reliable knowledge about prognosis and treatment.
When you lack that foundation, you are building on unstable ground. Medical history is full of examples of theories flourishing without empirical support and harmful practices following. Psychiatry today risks repeating that pattern by treating descriptive categories as if they were causal explanations.
Jacobsen: Autism is sometimes cited as a counterexample—associated with neurological differences, even if the picture remains incomplete.
Timimi: Autism is instructive precisely because it never had a clear anchor, only strong associations. Early autism diagnoses were applied almost exclusively to children with significant learning difficulties, high rates of epilepsy, and identifiable genetic abnormalities.
As the category expanded, those associations became less central. Today, autism spans individuals requiring lifelong care and individuals functioning at the highest levels of society. The diagnosis now tells you very little about a person’s actual needs.
That dilution has practical consequences. A label that once conveyed specific information has become so broad that it has limited clinical or social utility.
Jacobsen: You’ve emphasized that adversity shows a stronger association with distress than any biological marker.
Timimi: Yes. Across psychiatric presentations, the most consistent factor is exposure to adversity, particularly in childhood. Clinicians see this every day.
When bad things happen, people feel bad. Often, the emotional impact intensifies after the event has ended, once survival is no longer the immediate focus. That is a human response, not evidence of a broken brain.
Jacobsen: What does diagnostic labeling do to agency and identity, particularly for children?
Timimi: Labeling has been studied extensively in sociology. Psychiatric labels are especially powerful because they imply that something is wrong inside the person—something disordered or defective.
Once individuals accept that framework, two things can happen. First, they may assume they are incapable of certain actions, even when they are not. Second, diagnosis often leads to accumulation. One label rarely feels sufficient for long. Additional diagnoses follow, along with escalating treatment.
I see young people arriving with multiple diagnoses before the age of sixteen, already on medication, with families convinced there must be something more fundamentally wrong.
When diagnoses are framed as lifelong, they undermine one of the core realities of development: change. Childhood and adolescence are defined by transformation. When that expectation is replaced by permanence, agency is diminished.
Jacobsen: You’ve suggested that medicalized frameworks can resemble older forms of explanation, such as possession.
Timimi: In some ways, yes. Modern psychiatry often locates the problem internally—in brain chemistry or DNA—beyond the person’s control. That is not always more benign than older models. An external demon does not imply that you are broken.
Cultures that rely less on medicalized explanations often show better long-term outcomes in severe distress, sometimes with minimal medication. Paradoxically, societies with the most treatment access often report worsening mental health.
Meaning matters. If distress is understood as illness, recovery requires experts. If it is understood in relation to life events—loss, disruption, hardship—agency is preserved.
We have built a system that is highly effective at retaining patients in the long term by treating psychiatric diagnoses as if they function like diagnoses in other areas of medicine. When description becomes explanation, we explain nothing.
Jacobsen: Are there thinkers whose ideas you find particularly useful in understanding this dynamic?
Timimi: One that resonates is attributed to Alfie Kohn: once an idea has been around long enough that we forget it is an idea, we no longer have the idea—the idea has us.
Jacobsen: That feels like a fitting place to end. Thank you for your time.
Timimi: Thank you. It was good to speak with you.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/02
Yuriy Kryvosheya is a prominent Ukrainian business leader operating at the intersection of investment, innovation, and postwar recovery. He serves as President and Managing Partner of PJSC Toronto-Kyiv, one of Kyiv’s leading mixed-use real estate developments, and as Vice President of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, where he works to strengthen bilateral economic ties at a moment of existential importance for Ukraine.
Beyond real estate, Kryvosheya chairs the Supervisory Board of PromPrylad, an innovation hub advancing impact investment and regional development, and is a co-founder and shareholder of Yakaboo, one of Ukraine’s largest e-commerce platforms. His professional background includes earlier work at the International Finance Corporation, following his graduation from the Carroll School of Management, before building a diversified portfolio spanning real estate, hospitality, and venture initiatives.
Kryvosheya also plays a significant role in Ukraine’s civil society and veteran support ecosystem. He serves on the boards of Soborna Ukraine, a charitable foundation supporting the children of fallen defenders, and DOLADU, an NGO focused on psychological rehabilitation and professional reintegration for veterans. In addition, he is involved with the CEO Club Ukraine and contributes to executive education through the Real Estate Business School.
In this interview, Kryvosheya reflects on Ukraine’s wartime economy and the conditions necessary for long-term recovery. He argues that foreign direct investment, investor-friendly reforms, and resilient international partnerships—particularly with Canada—are not only central to rebuilding Ukraine but integral to winning the war itself.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Jacobsen: In discussions about supporting Ukraine, a recurring concern is how to do so without imposing external models or undermining Ukraine’s cultural and political sovereignty. From your perspective, how should international partners approach that balance?
Kryvosheya: This is sensitive because Ukrainian society is undergoing a deep transformation under extreme pressure. But it is important to understand that even in wartime, we are not frozen in place. Institutions are being rebuilt, reforms are ongoing, and there is genuine intent to improve governance.
What is sometimes labeled abroad as a “corruption scandal” is, in fact, often evidence of anti-corruption mechanisms beginning to function. That distinction matters. We have no illusions about the long road ahead, but progress is real. Supporting Ukraine means respecting this process, not replacing it with externally imposed solutions.
Jacobsen: How did your own path—from finance to entrepreneurship—shape the role you play today in Ukraine’s wartime economy?
Kryvosheya: My entire professional life has been dedicated to attracting investment, knowledge, and know-how to Ukraine because I believe in the country’s potential. I was born in Kyiv, educated abroad, and returned with a clear objective: to help build an economy capable of sustaining sovereignty.
I began my career at the International Finance Corporation, where Ukraine was undergoing rapid change following the Orange Revolution. The growth in investment during that period demonstrated what was possible when institutional reform and capital aligned.
Later, I moved fully into my own ventures, adapting international business models to Ukrainian realities. Over time, this led to a diversified portfolio designed not simply for shareholder value, but for ecosystem development. Credibility matters. You cannot promote a country to international investors unless you have committed your own capital and reputation to it.
After 2014, one reality became unavoidable: Ukraine cannot defend itself militarily without economic strength. Investment drives GDP, cash flow, and ultimately defense capacity. Foreign direct investment also brings partners with real stakes—people who are invested not only financially, but strategically.
Jacobsen: You’ve argued that investment itself is a form of security. How do you explain that logic to international partners who remain cautious?
Kryvosheya: The logic is straightforward. Ukraine offers higher potential returns precisely because risk is real. But risk can be mitigated through partnerships with strong Ukrainian companies and through institutional engagement.
When international investors enter Ukraine, they gain more than returns—they gain skin in the game. By supporting Ukraine’s economy, they are also protecting their capital, their technology, and their values. This is not abstract. Economic interdependence strengthens resilience.
Since 2022, many Ukrainian business leaders have taken on multiple roles simultaneously—running companies while actively supporting or participating in defense efforts. This is existential for us. The conflict is not theoretical. It is a battle over whether Ukraine continues to exist.
Jacobsen: You were closely involved in the Rebuild Ukraine Conference. What feedback stood out to you most?
Kryvosheya: I prefer to listen rather than judge our own work. What stood out was unsolicited feedback from participants who felt the discussions were substantive and actionable.
The responsibility now is to turn dialogue into projects. That applies not only to Ukraine but also to Canada—whether through defense cooperation, energy investment, or broader industrial partnerships. Opportunities exist across sectors, but urgency remains unevenly understood.
Living and working in Ukraine means operating without pause. Air raids, missile strikes, and constant uncertainty shape daily life. It is understandable that people elsewhere live differently. But the threat we face does not stop at Ukraine’s borders. Helping partners grasp that reality is essential.
Jacobsen: How would you assess the current state of Canada–Ukraine economic relations during wartime?
Kryvosheya: Canada’s support has been extraordinary—roughly $22 billion since the full-scale invasion. But trade and investment are only part of the picture. Canada–Ukraine relations function as a broader ecosystem that includes moral, cultural, and institutional support.
Trade volumes could be much stronger, but focusing on a single metric misses the full story. Some Canadian firms have invested during the war, including major players and smaller enterprises. These examples demonstrate feasibility, not exception.
Institutions like Export Development Canada have significant capacity, but their tools remain underutilized in Ukraine. Adjusting protocols—without abandoning due diligence—could unlock far greater participation. The ecosystem is strong; the challenge is scale.
Jacobsen: You’ve spoken about the psychological dislocation of moving between wartime Ukraine and countries at peace. How does that experience shape your perspective?
Kryvosheya: The first time I left Ukraine during the full-scale invasion, the contrast was overwhelming. On the first day of the war, I saw Russian helicopters firing on residential buildings. That becomes normal. Then suddenly, you are in a peaceful city where a helicopter means nothing.
You feel physically present but internally absent. Even without sirens, sleep is difficult. There is guilt in comfort. The body remains alert, always ready. This tension will stay with us long after the war ends.
What sustains people is perspective. There is always someone in worse conditions—on the front lines, under artillery, without rest. Remembering that helps you keep working and value even the smallest moments of normalcy.
Jacobsen: Where are the most urgent investment needs today?
Kryvosheya: Every sector needs support. Energy is critical—attacks on infrastructure threaten basic functionality. Defense and air defense are foundational, because without protection nothing else operates.
Agribusiness, manufacturing, and hospitality all matter. Hospitality, in particular, will be among the first sectors to reconnect Ukraine with the world when the war ends. Countries like Greece and Spain demonstrate how tourism can catalyze recovery after severe economic crises.
But everything depends on defense. No country in history has won a war without a functioning economy.
Jacobsen: If the war continues as a long conflict, what role do you see for business leaders and international partners?
Kryvosheya: The war has already been long—it began in 2014. We must act accordingly.
My focus is not on defining my role, but on achieving results. That means sustaining companies, preserving jobs, restructuring where necessary, and supporting defense and innovation. Resources are limited, effort is immense, and progress is often incremental.
Innovation—especially dual-use technology—matters enormously. It strengthens defense, generates intellectual property, and attracts further investment. A stronger market benefits everyone.
Jacobsen: Some estimate that reconstruction could take a decade or more. Is that realistic?
Kryvosheya: We must be honest. The war is unlikely to end suddenly. At best, it may pause. Planning must be grounded in realism, not wishful thinking.
Reconstruction will cost close to a trillion dollars. That capital does not exist in ready form. To attract it, Ukraine must become an exceptionally investor-friendly jurisdiction—transparent, simple, and predictable.
Not everything should be rebuilt as before. This is an opportunity to leap forward technologically and structurally. But that requires leadership, social consolidation, and rules that genuinely encourage investment.
If peace comes, Ukraine will become the world’s largest construction site. That will generate opportunities across every sector—but only if we prepare the ground properly.
Jacobsen: Finally, is there a Ukrainian saying that captures this moment?
Kryvosheya: Experiences differ too deeply for a single phrase. Some have lost loved ones. Others are waiting without answers. Any simplification risks trivializing their pain.
What unites us is the necessity to remain strong and keep moving—whether you are in a trench, grieving, or trying to attract support. That is the shared reality.
Jacobsen: Thank you for your time.
Kryvosheya: Thank you.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/24
Pavlo Demchuk is a Senior Legal Advisor at Transparency International Ukraine, where he specializes in criminal law, asset recovery, and the design and oversight of anti-corruption institutions. A graduate of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Demchuk defended his PhD in March 2024 with a dissertation examining legality as a core component of the rule-of-law principle in criminal justice. Prior to joining Transparency International Ukraine, he served as a judge’s assistant at the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), giving him firsthand exposure to the procedural mechanics—and vulnerabilities—of Ukraine’s anti-corruption system.
Demchuk is a frequent legal analyst and columnist, writing for Transparency International Ukraine and Ukrainska Pravda on topics ranging from HACC jurisprudence and plea agreements to statutes of limitations and reform of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). His work has helped shape legislative debates over asset recovery, management, and confiscation, while consistently emphasizing the importance of due-process safeguards and institutional independence—particularly for NABU and SAPO.
In this interview, Demchuk outlines what effective ARMA reform requires in practice rather than on paper: merit-based leadership selection insulated by international oversight, independent external audits, competitive appointment of asset managers, and a more transparent Unified Register of Seized Assets. He also examines how recent legislative reversals have partially restored anti-corruption institutions’ autonomy, where risks to independence remain, and why deterrence ultimately depends not on headline convictions, but on real confiscation, enforceable sanctions, and procedural credibility across the system.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Under the new ARMA reform law, which implementation steps will determine whether the reform delivers tangible results in 2025–26 rather than remaining a formal or symbolic success?
Pavlo Demchuk: The new ARMA reform law covers three key areas that should ensure the agency’s success.
First, these are updated procedures for selecting the ARMA head. International experts are now involved in the selection commission, which should protect the process from political influence and ensure the selection of the most competent candidate. This is critically important, as leadership determines the agency’s strategic direction and its capacity to manage seized assets effectively.
Second, the law introduces a mechanism for independent external audits of ARMA’s activities. This will allow for an objective assessment of the agency’s effectiveness, identification of systemic problems, and development of recommendations for their elimination. Regular audits should ensure ARMA’s accountability.
Third, the law establishes new procedures for selecting managers of seized assets. This should improve the quality of asset management and the preservation of asset value until confiscation. Transparent, competitive selection of managers minimizes corruption risks and ensures a professional approach to asset management.
In addition, the law significantly expands the scope of information published in the Unified Register of Seized Assets. This strengthens public oversight and allows ARMA to analyze its own performance better, identify problem areas, and make informed management decisions.
An important innovation is the introduction of an asset identification stage prior to transfer to ARMA. This means that a detailed assessment of the asset will be conducted first, including its characteristics, value, legal and financial encumbrances, and ownership structure. Such preliminary work allows ARMA officials to thoroughly assess the information and provide prosecutors with qualified advice on whether transferring a specific asset into management is appropriate. This increases effectiveness, as not all seized assets require active management, and some may be problematic in terms of preserving value.
Jacobsen: As asset recovery accelerates, what safeguards are most critical to preserving asset value and protecting due process while still enabling timely confiscation?
Demchuk: To effectively preserve asset value while ensuring due process and accelerating ultimate recovery, several key safeguards are required.
The first safeguard is comprehensive asset identification at the initial stage. It is necessary to establish full information about the asset, including financial obligations such as loans or mortgages, legal encumbrances such as court disputes or third-party rights, and the asset’s composition. For example, an enterprise may include real estate, equipment, and intellectual property. In Ukraine, this will be facilitated by newly introduced asset identification procedures, which have not yet begun operating. Without such detailed information, it is impossible to make sound decisions about asset management, and the risk of devaluation increases.
The second safeguard is the rapid and high-quality appointment of asset managers by ARMA. Delays in appointing managers can result in physical deterioration of property, loss of market value, or theft. Under recent legislative changes, clear deadlines for transferring assets to ARMA have been established for the first time. This should eliminate situations where assets remain unmanaged for years. The new rules governing asset management will take effect in January 2026, as bylaws and technical infrastructure are currently under development.
The third safeguard is the timely consideration of criminal cases by courts. The longer the proceedings last, the lower the chances of effective confiscation. Statutes of limitations may expire, resulting in release from criminal liability and automatic return of property. Prolonged proceedings also allow defendants to engage in procedural manipulation while assets lose value. Courts must therefore consider such cases within reasonable timeframes, consistent with both national interests and fair-trial standards.
🇺🇦🇪🇺TI Ukraine and CSOs presented the second Shadow Report under Chapters 23 and 24 of the European Commission’s Report on Ukraine’s Progress under the 2024 EU Enlargement Package.
📌TI Ukraine experts provided 143 recommendations and identified three key problem areas:… pic.twitter.com/Y91Xue4UTc
— Transparency International Ukraine (@TransparencyUA) October 22, 2025
Jacobsen: Law No. 4555-IX has now entered into force, albeit partially corrected. From an institutional-design perspective, what risks to prosecutorial and investigative independence does it still pose?
Demchuk: Most of the negative provisions of Law No. 4555-IX were repealed by Law No. 4560-IX of July 31, 2025. This corrective law eliminated the most dangerous risks for NABU and SAPO.
First, NABU’s exclusive jurisdiction was restored. Under the original version of Law No. 4555-IX, other agencies could interfere in investigations within NABU’s competence. Now, other agencies may investigate NABU cases only under exceptional circumstances of martial law and only by decision of the SAPO head or the Prosecutor General, which is an important safeguard of independence.
Second, the powers of the Office of the Prosecutor General were limited. The Prosecutor General can no longer directly interfere in NABU investigations or demand case materials, bypassing SAPO. NABU detectives are accountable exclusively to SAPO prosecutors, ensuring specialization and independence in investigating high-level corruption.
Third, SAPO’s autonomy was restored. The SAPO head now independently manages the prosecutor’s office without interference from the Prosecutor General or deputies. This is fundamental, as SAPO was created as a specialized, independent body for prosecuting top-level corruption.
Fourth, SAPO’s procedural powers were reinstated. The SAPO head again has authority to approve extensions of investigation periods, notify top officials of suspicion, and authorize urgent searches in exceptional cases. These powers are necessary for prompt and effective investigations.
Fifth, the “single-window” mechanism for closing cases was abolished. The Prosecutor General can no longer unilaterally close cases against top officials while bypassing SAPO, a provision that previously posed clear risks of political interference.
However, Law No. 4560-IX corrected only part of the damage. Law No. 4555-IX also abolished competitive appointment procedures for positions in the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor’s offices, creating risks of politicization. To fully remedy the harm, these competitive procedures must be restored to ensure professionalism and independence.
Jacobsen: NABU’s first independent audit identified a broad set of legislative and internal priorities. Which reforms should be sequenced first to ensure momentum rather than fragmentation?
Demchuk: NABU’s first independent audit identified a wide range of problems and issued recommendations both to parliament and directly to the Bureau. These two tracks should be pursued in parallel.
Legislative recommendations include ensuring NABU’s autonomous wiretapping capacity independent of the SSU, establishing additional safeguards for independent forensic expertise, repealing the “Lozovyi amendments” on automatic case closures, clarifying procedures for transferring cases when jurisdiction issues arise, and introducing disciplinary liability for officials who deliberately violate NABU’s jurisdiction.
For internal reforms, the audit emphasized four areas: strengthening whistleblower protection by removing identifying data where legally permissible; improving information security through official mobile devices or secure personal-device policies; establishing objective verification procedures for statistical reporting; and, most importantly, developing and implementing a comprehensive strategic plan with measurable goals. This strategic plan should be accompanied by a strategic human-resources framework to guide recruitment, development, and retention.
In my view, legislative and internal reforms can proceed simultaneously. Among internal reforms, however, the development of a comprehensive strategic plan should be prioritized, as it provides the foundation for all other changes.
Jacobsen: Drawing on HACC practice, what elements of plea agreements actually matter for deterrence—and where does the current system still fall short?
Demchuk: Ensuring deterrence does not always require actual imprisonment. Conditional sentences can have a strong preventive effect, but only if several conditions are met.
First, effective monitoring of compliance with probation conditions is essential. If violations result in real imprisonment, this creates a meaningful deterrent. In Ukraine, however, the probation system has not yet reached a level where consistent monitoring can be guaranteed.
Second, convicted individuals must be deprived of the ability to continue engaging in corruption. This requires mandatory disqualification from public service, local government, and state enterprises. Individuals convicted of corruption should not retain access to public funds or authority.
Third, special confiscation of criminal assets must be applied. If illegally acquired property is retained, conditional sentencing appears as a form of buying impunity. Confiscation must be real, not merely formal.
Currently, several problems persist. Criminal-record periods following conditional sentences may be unjustifiably short, allowing convicted individuals to quickly return to public office. Special confiscation is applied inconsistently, often due to insufficient prosecutorial work or unclear legislative provisions. Transparency in sentence execution is also lacking, making it difficult for the public to assess whether confiscation and disqualification have actually occurred.
Jacobsen: Statutes of limitations continue to enable high-profile corruption cases to collapse. What specific legal rewrite would prevent de facto automatic closures without violating reasonable-time guarantees?
Demchuk: Automatic case closures typically refer to proceedings closed due to expired pre-trial investigation deadlines under the “Lozovyi amendments.” In such cases, proceedings are closed automatically at the preparatory hearing stage if indictments are submitted late.
Closures based on statutes of limitations are different. They require a court decision and the consent of the accused. If consent is withheld, the case proceeds but without punishment.
To reduce closures in corruption cases, the law must reflect the objective complexity of investigating economic crimes. These cases often require international legal assistance, complex forensic examinations, and the reconstruction of multi-layered corruption schemes. These processes take time, while statutes of limitations continue to run.
Reform should therefore include new grounds for suspending limitation periods, such as time spent awaiting international assistance or conducting forensic examinations. The expiration point should also shift from appellate proceedings to first-instance consideration, eliminating incentives for procedural delay. At the same time, reforms must respect constitutional guarantees of reasonable-time adjudication.
Jacobsen: Ukraine has debated imposing a two-month cap on pre-trial property seizure. What judicial-oversight model better balances property rights with effective confiscation in complex corruption cases?
Demchuk: The debate surrounding the introduction of a two-month limit on pre-trial property seizure reflects a deeper systemic problem—namely, the insufficient effectiveness of existing judicial oversight mechanisms and the inconsistent execution of court decisions. In reality, abuses related to unjustified or prolonged seizure of property would be significantly reduced if two core elements functioned properly.
First, courts must meaningfully exercise their judicial oversight role. Under current law, judges are required to consider motions for property seizure and assess their necessity and proportionality. In practice, however, such motions are sometimes approved in a formalistic manner, without thorough verification of whether seizure is genuinely required or proportionate to the investigative needs of the case.
Second, pre-trial investigation bodies must actually comply with court decisions lifting property seizures. At present, this does not always occur. There are documented cases in which investigative authorities continue to retain property despite a court order lifting the seizure, effectively ignoring judicial decisions and undermining legal safeguards.
Because of these persistent failures, legislative initiatives periodically emerge that attempt to address the problem through rigid, mechanical solutions—most notably, by imposing strict time limits on the duration of seizures. The logic behind these proposals is straightforward: if law-enforcement bodies abuse seizure powers, the law should sharply limit how long property can remain under seizure. However, such “brute-force” approaches create new risks, as they fail to account for the objective complexity of certain investigations.
This is particularly true for complex corruption cases, which often require international legal assistance, lengthy forensic examinations, and detailed reconstruction of financial flows through offshore structures. Artificially short deadlines may not lead to better protection of rights, but to the collapse of legitimate cases and ineffective confiscation.
A judicial-oversight model that truly balances property rights with effective confiscation should therefore rely not on mechanical time limits, but on demanding, substantive judicial scrutiny at every stage of the process. Courts must function as genuine arbiters, rigorously assessing the necessity and proportionality of each restriction on property rights. At the same time, real accountability must exist so that neither investigators nor judges can abuse seizure mechanisms with impunity.
Jacobsen: Finally, where should the line be drawn between confidentiality and publicity during the asset-seizure and transfer process—and how should that balance shift as cases move forward?
Demchuk: The balance between publicity and confidentiality is dynamic and stage-dependent. At early investigative stages, confidentiality is essential to prevent asset concealment. Information on asset searches is part of pre-trial secrecy and cannot be disclosed without authorization.
After seizure—and especially after transfer to ARMA—publicity becomes paramount. The expanded Unified Register of Seized Assets represents an important step toward accountability. Its effectiveness, however, will depend on technical quality, accuracy, and accessibility.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Pavlo.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/21
Dr. Lauryn Oates is a Canadian human rights and education advocate and the Executive Director of Right to Learn Afghanistan—an organization formerly known as Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, renamed in 2024 to reflect its expanded mission and global reach. For more than a decade, the organization has worked to sustain Afghan women and girls’ access to education amid cycles of conflict, political collapse, and repression. Today, its work centers on digital education initiatives designed to circumvent Taliban restrictions, including the Darakht-e Danesh Library and Courses, an online high school known as the Darakht-e Danesh Classroom, and a growing scholarship program that helps students cover the practical costs of learning, from devices and internet connectivity to tuition and exam fees. Alongside these efforts, Right to Learn Afghanistan produces public toolkits and fact sheets aimed at advocacy, accountability, and the emerging legal framing of Taliban rule as a system of “gender apartheid.”
I spoke with Dr. Oates about the Taliban’s systematic dismantling of women’s education since their return to power in August 2021—a campaign that has confined girls’ schooling to the primary level and barred women entirely from universities and professional training. She traces how these policies unfolded: the exclusion of girls from secondary schools within weeks of the takeover, the December 2022 ban on women’s access to higher education, and the subsequent closure of nursing and midwifery institutes, which had served as one of the last remaining educational and economic pathways for Afghan women. Oates describes the quiet workarounds that have emerged in response—underground classrooms, online schools, and scholarship-supported learning—as well as the broader social and economic consequences of excluding half the population from education and work. She also outlines concrete ways the international community can respond, from volunteering and fundraising to advocacy and online enrollment initiatives aimed at preserving Afghanistan’s human capital until political conditions change.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: For those who have followed developments in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power, the right to learn has emerged as one of the most starkly contested issues, with women and girls bearing the brunt of these policies—particularly when it comes to access to education. From your perspective, how has this landscape evolved over time, and in what ways has it become progressively more restrictive with regard to the educational rights of women and girls? My understanding is that formal access is now limited to education up through grade six.
Lauryn Oates: That is correct. It is a very severe limitation and unlike anything else in the world. Afghanistan is the only country where girls are barred from education beyond primary school and where secondary and higher education are forbidden to girls and women as a matter of government policy. This situation has evolved since the Taliban retook power in August 2021.
Within a month, secondary schools reopened for boys, effectively excluding girls from secondary education, and that exclusion has persisted.
The following year, on December 20, 2022, the Taliban announced that women would be barred from universities, including both public and private higher education institutions. More than 100,000 women had been enrolled in universities across the country. Thousands were preparing for qualifying exams in medicine and other professions, nearing completion of bachelor’s degrees, or had secured scholarships. Their lives were completely upended by this decision, which remains in place.
After that, additional education-related policies further restricted access. One remaining pathway had been limited access to training in health and medical fields, including nursing and midwifery. In December 2024, Taliban authorities ordered the closure of nursing and midwifery institutes, effectively banning women from pursuing education in those fields as well.
This had been one of the last remaining options for women to acquire skills and earn an income to support their families. That door was also closed. The situation is highly restrictive.
Many organizations working on this issue, along with Afghan activists and legal and human rights scholars, refer to the situation as gender apartheid. This reflects how systemic and all-encompassing the restrictions are and how they affect every aspect of life. It is not an isolated policy. Everything about being female is subject to regulation based on discrimination.
Most societies include women in the workforce, particularly in advanced economies. Services require workers with relevant skills. In Afghanistan, these bans on women’s education have cascading consequences across society, including severe impacts on healthcare capacity and service delivery.
They will not do it officially. They would never want to lose face by backtracking. When they announced the ban on secondary schooling, they described it as temporary and said they needed time to organize secondary education in line with their ideology. Even after a year of the ban being in effect, they announced that girls could return to school. On the first day back, when girls were standing outside the school, officials at the gates told them this was not the case and that the ban was still in effect. It was heartbreaking. We saw images of girls in tears, believing they were about to return to school. It was fierce.
They do not backtrack publicly, but quietly, there are workarounds. Some Taliban members send their daughters to secondary schools, including private independent schools and international schools, or to girls’ boarding schools in Gulf countries. They do not all strictly adhere to their own policies. At the local level, Taliban officials sometimes disregard education that continues for Afghan women and girls.
That said, access often depends on luck—where someone lives and whether they live in an area with more permissive enforcement. In other places, the ban is strictly enforced. There are gray areas and nuances, and Afghan women’s education leaders have taken advantage of those. With minimal resources, they have managed to make education available in many different ways.
One of the few silver linings of this crisis is the level of innovation, creativity, and resilience shown by teachers, education workers, and ordinary people who became involved to ensure that women and girls had some access to education. Despite the bans, hundreds of thousands of women and girls are still accessing education, but it should not be this difficult.
Jacobsen: Have there been moments or episodes that proved particularly embarrassing for the Taliban—instances in which their policies or actions left them unable to control the narrative or preserve a sense of political face, either domestically or in the eyes of the international community?
Oates: Yes. The earthquakes that occurred over the summer and fall highlighted the impact of gender apartheid policies in unexpected ways. A major earthquake struck a remote area that was difficult to access, and restrictions on women working had immediate life-and-death consequences. Men were being rescued, while women were not, because there were no women aid workers available. Men were also afraid to help women they were not related to, out of fear of punishment.
Rescue efforts involve physical contact, such as pulling people from rubble, and women were literally left to die. After the earthquake, humanitarian needs remained severe. People needed shelter, food, water, sanitation, and medical care. The absence of women aid workers who could reach women and meet their needs worsened an already dire situation.
This tragedy illustrated how everything becomes politicized under gender apartheid. What appears to be a purely humanitarian crisis still produces artificial, unequal outcomes for men and women because of existing policies. Media coverage of what women experienced during and after the earthquake made the Taliban look extremely bad and embarrassed them. They made a halfhearted effort afterward to send aid delegations to save face, but this was only one of many such incidents.
Another episode that embarrassed them involved a recent trip by Taliban officials to India. The government of India and Taliban authorities have been engaged in ongoing interactions, and that visit drew attention to contradictions between the Taliban’s international engagement and their domestic policies.
The thawing of relations and the reopening of embassies are deeply concerning to people like me who are watching how the international community treats the Taliban. This risks normalizing their regime and normalizing gender apartheid by treating them like any other government. A Taliban cabinet minister went to India, and there was a press conference.
The Indian government did not allow women journalists, from India or elsewhere, to attend the press conference out of deference to the Taliban’s preferences. This backfired. There was far more press coverage about the absence of women journalists and their exclusion from the press conference than about the event itself. As a result, a second press conference was held, allowing women journalists to attend in an attempt to compensate.
These incidents show that the Taliban are sensitive to international opinion and to how they are portrayed in the press. However, not all factions are equally sensitive. This reflects internal divisions within the Taliban and differing views about their long-term vision.
Jacobsen: When it comes to working through UNESCO and the broader UN system—especially in light of the organization’s funding shortfalls and recent reports of peacekeepers and interpreters being killed or captured—some of the protections historically associated with UN operations appear to be eroding. Beyond questions of infrastructure and financing, how has this shift affected your and others’ ability to carry out human rights work for Afghan women and girls, particularly in the realm of education?
Oates: Yes, absolutely. Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries and is heavily dependent on foreign aid. We have seen widespread impacts across the funding landscape. Funding has dried up not only for UN agency initiatives but also for international organizations and Afghan civil society groups engaged in humanitarian and development work.
There have been massive cuts, including the closure of health clinics across Afghanistan. The World Food Programme has been significantly affected in its ability to raise the funds needed to respond to rapidly worsening food insecurity. Many people are not aware of this because Afghanistan receives less attention than other crises, but the country is on the brink of famine. Malnutrition rates are already claiming many lives, beginning with children.
Beyond the immediate human toll, malnutrition has long-term consequences for a country’s development prospects and economic future. This situation is hugely consequential and preventable. However, the UN is struggling both to raise sufficient funds and to generate political will to focus on Afghanistan.
Humanitarian work there is challenging due to Taliban restrictions. Many international organizations have left since 2021 because the conditions have become untenable. Women were barred from working or required to be thoroughly segregated, limited to specific roles, and staff were subjected to harassment and constant interference by Taliban authorities. Many organizations ultimately decided to leave, despite the immense need that remains.
Funding cuts to aid and development are a global issue, but in a country as vulnerable and aid-dependent as Afghanistan, the impact is particularly severe. Unfortunately, I do not expect that situation to change in the near term.
Jacobsen: What are some of the least visible—or least formally documented—ways Afghan women have found to continue their education under these restrictions? I was told, for instance, one story about a girl who deliberately failed her final grade five or grade six examination so that she could repeat the same material the following year and remain within the education system. That kind of choice seems to capture just how deep and how intense the desire for education has become.
Oates: We have been collaborating with an Afghan woman who is a doctoral student at Hiroshima University, and she is studying schools and individuals who are running independent education programs for women and girls. One of her research findings is that the situation imposed by the Taliban has fundamentally changed the meaning of education for women and girls.
Previously, education was about launching a career, getting the job, and the life they wanted, for the same reasons people everywhere pursue education. Now there is an intrinsic drive rooted in resistance: the sense that something was taken from them and they are determined to take it back. Education has become a form of resistance, intensifying people’s determination to learn. This is likely the opposite of what the Taliban intended with these policies.
They are producing a population of women who will stop at nothing to learn. Historically, in Afghanistan, learning has always spread organically. During the Taliban’s first period in power in the 1990s, before widespread internet access, women taught neighbours, family members, and friends in their living rooms through underground schools. Those were widespread, and this is still happening today.
There is extensive in-person education taking place despite the bans, but now there is also the internet. As a result, education is occurring on a much larger scale in virtual spaces. The scope of it is massive, and the Taliban cannot control it entirely.
We have conducted research attempting to track the expansion of online schools. The majority are led by Afghans, many of whom are in the diaspora, living around the world, as well as Afghans still inside Afghanistan. So far, we have identified 201 such programs. That is only the tip of the iceberg, as many operate discreetly to avoid detection.
Even so, we can learn a great deal from the programs we have tracked by examining what they are doing. Another way we see the scale of this activity is through our scholarship program, which we launched in 2011. In the early years, we received about 25 applications and awarded perhaps a dozen scholarships. This year, we are on track to receive more than 25,000 individual applications.
The volume is enormous. We now have more than a decade of data that shows where women are studying. Our scholarship program requires applicants to be already enrolled in a program. When they apply, they are seeking support for costs such as purchasing a computer, paying tuition, or covering visa fees.
By examining where applicants are studying, we see remarkable patterns. A large percentage are enrolled in online programs, including fully virtual universities. Some are studying in person abroad as well.
Many women are studying at universities in Bangladesh, Armenia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and other countries. Some have gone further afield to Western countries, but the majority remain inside Afghanistan and study online. They are enrolled in a wide variety of institutions worldwide and across many fields. This speaks to their resourcefulness and to how the internet enables these opportunities.
We established the scholarship fund because of practical barriers, such as the need to pay for internet access and a computer. That is what the fund covers. The women do the rest and still manage to obtain an education. We see that same determination reflected in our review of scholarship applications.
Jacobsen: What about security concerns in this environment? Does the funding you provide also cover protective tools—such as VPN services—that help students and educators navigate surveillance, connectivity disruptions, and other digital risks?
Oates: Security has become a significant focus for any organization involved in education in Afghanistan, especially after internet access was blocked in the fall. Initially, the disruptions occurred in a few provinces and in limited ways, and then a complete shutdown occurred that affected both internet access and mobile phone service for 48 hours.
That prompted many organizations to seriously assess alternatives. This operational environment requires constant vigilance. Risk management must be a central part of the work, including assessing where operations are still possible, identifying red lines that cannot be crossed, and determining what can be done safely.
We balance the risks of delivering education under these conditions against the risk of women and girls having no access to education at all. That is the most crucial consideration. Repeatedly, women and girls tell us that they cannot imagine a life without education. Without education, they feel hopeless and believe there is no purpose if they cannot have goals or dreams. We have also seen a significant rise in depression, anxiety, and other mental health impacts resulting from the education bans. These realities are part of the risk analysis.
Online education itself is not explicitly banned. It does not fall under the prohibited categories of education, so it remains technically permitted. However, it is not encouraged, and providers exercise considerable caution. Many have implemented extensive measures to mitigate risks.
Jacobsen: In a modern context, a lack of education ultimately produces a weaker society, even when viewed purely through an economic lens. Any advanced or industrial economy depends on digital infrastructure, which itself requires higher levels of education and skilled labor, and the absence of that foundation carries broad economic consequences. Have there been credible assessments of the financial costs of denying women and girls access to education in Afghanistan, particularly from analysts who focus primarily on economic outcomes rather than human rights considerations?
Oates: It is like shooting yourself in the foot economically. Even setting human rights aside for a moment—though our organization is called Right to Learn and we approach this from a human rights perspective—education is essential to a functioning economy and society. You cannot have a thriving economy without education or without women participating in the workforce.
The economic impact is being tracked. The UN Development Programme has calculated the financial costs of excluding women from the workforce. Even in the first year of employment restrictions, the estimated loss was around $5 billion. That figure has increased since then. I do not have the most recent numbers in front of me, but the UNDP’s work shows this will continue to worsen.
We are not yet seeing the full impact of the shortage of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers on the education pipeline. Another significant restriction is that the Taliban shut down the entire teacher education system. Teacher training colleges across the country were closed, so no new teachers are being trained. That will create serious problems in the future.
Hundreds of online schools offer education, but they are not generally focused on teacher training. That gap is not being addressed, and it will likely become a significant issue. The same problem applies to many other professions where there is no pipeline of trained workers. The Taliban are already seeing these consequences within government institutions. Their policies have driven millions of Afghans to flee the country, and systems are breaking down due to a lack of skilled labour.
They have appealed for civil servants to return, promising safety and amnesty, even for those who worked for the previous republican government. However, there is a strong reason for skepticism. Documentation shows numerous cases of extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions, disappearances, and torture of people associated with the former government, including members of the military and senior officials in government ministries. Hundreds were killed. As a result, people are understandably unwilling to return to government service.
Government ministries are also struggling to pay staff, with salaries often delayed. This reinforces incentives to leave the country. Another layer of this crisis is mass displacement. Afghanistan faces a severe human rights crisis, a potential economic collapse, widespread food insecurity, and millions of Afghans living in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Iran. Many of them now face the risk of forcible return.
This is crisis upon crisis, but it all has a single root cause: Taliban policy and gender apartheid.
Jacobsen: For those who work within a human rights framework and remain committed to a universal ethic, what are the most meaningful ways to get involved at this moment? Are their efforts best directed toward supporting your organization directly, or toward collaborating with partner groups and allied networks that are responding to the worsening conditions facing Afghan women and girls?
Oates: Thank you for asking that question. Many things can be done, and the first thing I emphasize is that this is not a hopeless situation. I have shared stories about what Afghan women are doing, the ways they are pursuing education, and the scholarship program I mentioned earlier.
To date, we have awarded more than 3,500 scholarships. We operate an online high school with nearly 700 students, with another cohort about to begin. We also run online courses that enroll thousands of learners. We maintain an online library of learning materials that now receives more than one million users per year.
People are still moving forward, finding alternatives, and accessing education. These individuals will be the ones who run Afghanistan in the future. The Taliban are not permanent. They will inevitably fall again. It could happen tomorrow or in a decade; we do not know. But they cannot endure indefinitely in the modern world, and they are not accepted by Afghans who experienced something different for twenty years and have rejected a return to this system. Change will come.
When it does, the most important asset will be human capital. We cannot wait for political stability to return before rebuilding education and the economy. These efforts must continue in the background, underground, and in exile in the meantime. We see our role as helping preserve the education system—holding it in trust until conditions change.
There are many ways people can help. We offer volunteer opportunities for those who can work directly with students. One of our greatest needs is English conversation club leaders for our high school students, who study in English and require substantial preparation and practice.
We also have local volunteer opportunities through chapters across Canada, from coast to coast. People can join an existing chapter or start a new one to connect in person with other volunteers. We rely on Canadians to fundraise for us through donations, contributions, and hosting their own events.
One popular way supporters raise funds is by hosting potlucks, inviting guests to bring a dish and a donation. These pooled contributions can fund an entire small library or pay a teacher’s salary for six months. We call these events Breaking Bread Dinners, and they are one meaningful way people can support our work.
We also have a large amount of material on our website that people can use, including advocacy resources. I have spoken about our work in Afghanistan, but we also do work in Canada by engaging the public and advocating for an end to gender apartheid. We provide toolkits, resources, and fact sheets to help people learn about gender apartheid and, in particular, the case for its codification.
One of our goals is to see gender apartheid enshrined in international law so that it can be prosecuted. There is significant international momentum around this issue right now, and we are working to advance it. People can take concrete actions such as writing to their Member of Parliament or engaging with local media, and we provide information to support those efforts.
We also invite educational institutions to contribute. Universities, for example, can enroll Afghan women in fully virtual online certificate, diploma, or degree programs. Women can study from where they are and may apply to our scholarship program for support. It is essential to meet them where they are, because leaving the country to study abroad is extremely difficult, especially now. Supporting virtual education options is necessary.
There are many other ways people can help. I encourage them to visit our website, explore the available tools, and reach out to us. We are always happy to explain how people can get involved and support our work.
Jacobsen: Excellent. Lauryn, thank you very much for your time today and for sharing your expertise. I appreciate it.
Oates: Thank you very much for having me.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/19
Dr. Shu-Jen Han is the Chief Technical Officer of SEEQC, where he leads the company’s global, multidisciplinary research and development effort to build a chip-based digital quantum computing system. Since joining SEEQC in 2021—initially as Vice President of Engineering and now as CTO—Han has overseen both the long- and short-term technology roadmaps, guiding the integration of superconducting electronics, cryogenic control, and scalable system architecture. His role places him at the center of one of quantum computing’s most difficult challenges: translating laboratory breakthroughs into machines that can operate reliably at scale.
Before SEEQC, Han spent decades at the frontier of semiconductor and nanoscale device research. He began his career at IBM’s semiconductor research division, working on advanced CMOS technologies, and later rose to manage the nanoscale device and technology group at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center, where his work focused on post-silicon transistor research and nanoelectronics. He subsequently joined HFC Semiconductor, serving as Senior Director and eventually Associate Vice President, where he led multiple generations of MRAM development from early research through product qualification—experience that now informs his emphasis on manufacturability and systems engineering in quantum hardware. Han earned his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University, with a minor in Electrical Engineering, and is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and holds over 200 issued U.S. patents.
In this interview, I spoke with Dr. Han about SEEQC’s digital approach to superconducting quantum systems and why he believes it represents a necessary break from today’s dominant control paradigm. He contrasts conventional microwave, room-temperature control—which is effectively analog, wiring-intensive, and increasingly unmanageable at scale—with SEEQC’s model of superconducting digital pulses generated near the qubits themselves at millikelvin temperatures. By localizing control and readout, Han argues, quantum systems can reduce latency, cut cabling and power demands, and make real-time quantum error correction feasible as errors compound across thousands of gate operations.
Han is blunt about the scale of the problem ahead. Fault-tolerant quantum machines, he suggests, may require between 100,000 and one million qubits, a threshold at which today’s approaches to bandwidth, wiring density, and power consumption become untenable without chip-level integration. He discusses why conventional systems could demand tens to hundreds of megawatts and points to recent results, such as Google’s Willow experiments, as signals that scaling pressures are no longer theoretical. The conversation also touches on SEEQC’s partner-driven business model, its growing collaborations in Taiwan, and the broader question of how quantum computing can move from scientific promise to industrial reality.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When discussing digital quantum computing systems, how do you distinguish between quantum computing as a domain of mathematical models and algorithms, and quantum computing as a physical hardware system? Where does that boundary lie, and how do these two layers—abstract computation and physical implementation—ultimately converge in frontier electronic or digital quantum architectures?
Dr. Shu-Jen Han: Today’s quantum computing is more or less analog computing because in classical computing, we are familiar with CPU- and GPU-based digital systems, with deterministic 1 and 0. In quantum computing, you have superposition, which is a probability between 1 and 0, making it closer to analog. The hardware of today’s quantum computing uses microwave pulses to manipulate qubits. Many existing systems are based on this analog scheme. The problem, from our point of view, is that this approach is not scalable because microwave pulses must travel from room temperature down to millikelvin temperatures where qubits must remain extremely cold. There is another way, which we call digital quantum computing. Instead of relying on analog microwave signals, we use superconducting digital electronics to generate coherent digital pulses that manipulate qubits. That is a key distinction between our technology and conventional analog approaches.
Jacobsen: When you bring together fundamentally different approaches to computation—not merely different algorithms within classical linear or parallel models, but distinct computational paradigms altogether—how do you integrate them coherently within a digital quantum computing architecture? Given that some computational methods are more efficient or appropriate for specific problems than others, how do you determine which form of computation belongs where, and how do you optimize that integration without overengineering simple tasks?
Han: I think one thing I want to emphasize is that in our company, we did not try to replace existing quantum computing. They run the algorithm. We are trying to make the system more scalable. Of course, there is an additional advantage to using our technology: a digital approach to controlling and reading the qubits. That gives a lot of advantages. Going back to your question, we can utilize this advantage to enhance specific algorithms. One good example is the unique on-chip digital control and readout, directly next to the qubits.
As I mentioned in your first question, with the current approach, you need to send the signal from room temperature and read it back to room temperature. There is a huge delay between when you send signals to the qubits and when you read signals from the qubits. But if we can do everything next to the qubits, we do not have that delay. That said, we can use our approach to enhance many so-called error-correction methods. You might have heard about quantum error correction because qubits have a lot of errors. If you do not correct them, it is not useful. I think that is one of the reasons you need to put the qubits at 10 millikelvin, because at slightly higher temperatures, thermal noise will mess up your qubit information.
But even at 10 millikelvin, the qubits are still very noisy. So people are pushing so-called fidelity, meaning what percentage of errors will occur. People are already pushing to 99.99%. But even that tiny percentage of error, when you start to accumulate it, becomes a problem. When you do the computation, it is like thousands of these gates—we call them quantum gates. Each quantum circuit consists of thousands of these gates. If any gate has a tiny error, and you multiply that by 1,000 or 10,000, the result will not be correct. That is why we need to do quantum error correction along the way. I keep correcting this error along the way.
But you can imagine that if you need to do this error correction by sending the signal out, using room-temperature electronics to do the correction, and sending the corrected data back in, it is very resource-wasteful. Also, sometimes you cannot immediately correct the error because doing so would cause latency. So if we can do all this control and readout next to the qubits, which is what our technology can potentially do, we can do some kind of real-time error correction. When an error forms, we detect it and correct it immediately. We do not even need to send the signal out, using our digital approach. That enables a new type of quantum error correction and significantly improves the robustness of the quantum computer. That is one example of how our technology can enhance an algorithm.
Jacobsen: Is there an upper bound—practical or theoretical—on how much quantum error correction can be performed while computations are actively running? At what point do the demands of live error correction begin to constrain the system itself?
Han: Quantum error correction is very powerful. At a high level, the concept is that you use redundant qubits. Once you measure enough qubits, you can think of it as something similar to a parity check. In a simple way, if the majority outcome is one, you say the data qubit is one; if the majority is zero, you say the data qubit is zero. As long as you measure enough qubits and they are all entangled together, this works. For example, you might have 100 physical qubits representing a single data qubit. If they are all entangled and supposed to be one, some will flip to zero because of errors. But if you measure enough of them, from a probability point of view you can say there is a high likelihood that the data qubit should be one, or vice versa zero. That is the basic idea of quantum error correction.
In principle, there is no fundamental limit to how accurate you can be. It is a resource issue. If you could use an unlimited number of physical qubits to represent one data qubit, you could achieve remarkably high accuracy. But that is the ideal case. In practice, that is why, when people talk about practical or utility-scale quantum computers, they often say they need on the order of 100,000 to even 1 million qubits. It is not that all of those qubits are doing computation. The majority of them are doing quantum error correction.
Even though, in theory, you can keep increasing accuracy by adding more physical qubits, implementing this in practice is extremely difficult. That is one of the reasons we formed SEEQC: to resolve this scalability issue. SEEQC stands for Scalable Energy Efficient Quantum Computing, and scalability is our first mission. If you want to use so many physical qubits, the first problem is how to connect them. In the conventional approach, you have to send microwave signals from room temperature down to millikelvin temperatures and read the qubits back up to room temperature. That requires long cables running from room temperature to millikelvin. If you are talking about 100,000 to one million qubits, there is no way to put millions of cables into a dilution refrigerator. There is simply no space, and the heat generated by all of those cables is unacceptable.
Another major concern is bandwidth. You send data in and read data out, and the bandwidth requirements can be on the order of tens or even hundreds of terabits per second. There is no interface today that can accommodate that kind of bandwidth. Even companies like NVIDIA do not have interfaces designed for that scale. These are engineering problems, and I would even call them fundamental problems, that block our ability to build utility-scale quantum computers using conventional approaches.
That is where SEEQC comes in. As I mentioned earlier, we do not send all signals out to room temperature. Many signals are generated locally, next to the qubits, using our digital approach. We do qubit processing locally, including control, readout, and error correction. By doing that, we eliminate many of these fundamental constraints.
Jacobsen: Energy consumption increasingly defines the limits of modern computation. How do the energy curves for different forms of computation compare as workloads scale—from simple calculations to large-scale AI inference or prolonged, intensive computation? In that context, how does SEEQC-style quantum computing compare, in terms of wattage and efficiency, to conventional quantum architectures and classical high-performance systems?
Han: Energy efficiency is a critical issue and central to our company’s mission. As I mentioned earlier, SEEQC focuses on two core challenges: scalability and energy efficiency. Scalability is what I explained in the previous question, and energy efficiency is closely related to it. In the current approach, most of the electronics are built at room temperature, mainly using high-performance FPGA-based electronics, along with dilution refrigerators. These are incredibly high-power-consumption systems. Based on our estimates, if you consider a medium-scale qubit system—which is generally what is required for fault-tolerant quantum computing—you are talking about tens of megawatts up to 100 megawatts per system, assuming you can even build it. That level of power consumption is comparable to a modern AI data center. Today’s AI data centers can consume hundreds of megawatts, even approaching gigawatts, so a single quantum computer consuming around 100 megawatts is not far off. From an energy perspective alone, that approach is not scalable.
Our technology is very different. We reduce energy consumption by roughly four to five orders of magnitude. We still require some room-temperature electronics to control our digital chips, but we drastically reduced their number. We also reduce the number of dilution refrigerators needed, because our solution is chip-based and integrates much of the functionality directly on the chip. Instead of needing many refrigerators to support extremely large numbers of qubits, integration allows us to reduce that infrastructure significantly. This lower overall energy consumption makes large-scale quantum computing more realistic and approachable.
Our approach is strongly inspired by microelectronics and semiconductor engineering, which is my background. In classical microelectronics, you do not connect every transistor with a separate physical cable. If you tried to build a processor that way, it would be impossible. That is essentially what many current quantum computing approaches resemble. What we are doing is making something analogous to an integrated circuit for quantum computing. Instead of using physical cables to connect each qubit, we integrate qubits directly with control and readout electronics on the same chip. In our case, this integrated circuit is not based on CMOS silicon technology but on superconducting single-flux-quantum digital electronics. You can think of it as a digital circuit with extremely low power consumption. By integrating qubits with local control, readout, and processing, we remove fundamental barriers related to energy, wiring, and scale. Based on the history and lessons of microelectronics, this kind of integrated-circuit approach is the only realistic way to scale quantum computing.
Jacobsen: Looking ahead, where do you see this technology by 2026, and how do you expect it to evolve over the rest of the decade? Are you referring here to the trajectory of quantum computing as a whole, or specifically to SEEQC’s approach to hardware–software integration and digital quantum control?
Han: That is a good question. Our business model is different from most quantum computing companies. Many companies are trying to build their own large quantum systems to sell, or to place in data centers and offer as cloud services. They may have a unique qubit technology or a software advantage, but the goal is to deliver a full system to end users. Our business model is different. We focus on developing unique chip technologies—qubit control, qubit readout, and error correction chips—and integrating them into the systems of large quantum computing companies. Those companies are our customers. We do not sell directly to end users. We sell to large quantum computing companies. The reason is that, internally, they know their current approaches may not be scalable, even if they do not say that publicly. Our vision is to integrate our technology into their large systems so that, when they deliver fault-tolerant systems, our technology is at the core.
Jacobsen: Public discussions of quantum computing often focus narrowly on cryptography—particularly the idea of breaking classical encryption—but pay far less attention to constraints such as energy use, system stability, or scalability. Beyond cryptography, what do you see as the most significant general and technical limitations facing quantum computation today?
Han: There are two main questions. The first is whether we can build a large-scale quantum computer at all. The second is whether, once we build it, it will be useful. The first question is easier to answer. So far, we cannot build a truly large-scale quantum computer, but there are approaches to get there, including ours. We provide a more scalable approach from the control, readout, and integration perspective. However, the field still needs to address other challenges.
For example, qubit quality is still not where it needs to be. We do not specialize in making qubits; we specialize in making control and readout electronics that integrate with qubits. Other companies focus on qubit fabrication, but overall, qubit quality still needs significant improvement.
When you build a very large-scale qubit array, system performance is not determined by the average or best-performing qubits. The worst qubits, the tail of the distribution, determine it. That is how large systems behave. The field still needs to improve qubit quality and tighten the performance distribution by eliminating the worst-performing qubits. Once that happens, scaling becomes much more realistic. There has been significant progress in recent years. For example, there has been a lot of discussion around Google’s Willow chip, which reflects meaningful advances, even if many people have not yet examined it in depth.
My personal view is that Google’s Willow chip really sparked the recent surge in interest in quantum computing. If you look at the market, many quantum computing companies began to receive much more attention, even reflected in stock prices starting around 2025. One of the most significant trigger points was Willow. This is not hype; it was an important breakthrough demonstration. What Google showed is that when you scale up the number of qubits, the error rate can actually start to decrease. As I mentioned earlier, traditionally, when you scale up qubits, quantum error correction does not work well because qubit quality is non-uniform. There are always bad qubits—the tail of the distribution—and those worst qubits determine overall system performance. When you scale up with those bad qubits, error correction fails, and logical qubit error rates remain high.
What Willow demonstrated, for the first time, is that as the number of qubits increases, the logical qubit error rate for real data qubits starts to drop significantly. That suggests their qubit quality has reached a level where scaling becomes feasible. They still have only a few hundred qubits, so it is not yet a large-scale system, but it is a very strong proof point. It also gives our work purpose. If the industry now has qubits ready to scale, SEEQC’s technology can play a significant role in enabling that scalability.
Jacobsen: As a final question, are there any broader reflections you would like to leave readers with based on today’s discussion—particularly about where the field is headed or what policymakers, industry leaders, or the public may be overlooking?
Han: One additional point relates to collaboration with Taiwan. I am not sure whether Davis mentioned this to you, but Taiwan has become extremely important in this space. Taiwan entered the quantum technology field a bit later, but it arguably has the world’s strongest semiconductor ecosystem. I did my undergraduate studies in Taiwan before starting my PhD, and I spent much of my early life there. Because we are doing chip-based quantum computing, we want to leverage Taiwan’s semiconductor expertise. Even though our technology is not CMOS, many CMOS semiconductor techniques can still be applied to our platform.
That is why we are actively leveraging chip resources from Taiwan. We now have multiple collaborations there, including recent work with E3 in Taiwan. We have our own foundry, but we also want a second foundry, and we are working on CMOS design and room-temperature electronics collaborations with Taiwanese companies. There are many active engagements with Taiwanese companies and organizations right now.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Shu.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/15
Hanna Hrytsenko is a sociologist whose research sits at the intersection of gender, security institutions, and the lived realities of war in Ukraine. Working with the Invisible Battalion project at the NGO Institute of Gender Programs, she has co-authored some of the most influential empirical studies on women’s military service, veterans’ reintegration, and sexual harassment within the military, including the landmark Invisible Battalion 3.0.
Her more recent work includes a policy brief for the Global Public Policy Institute on gender sensitive capacity building in Ukraine’s civilian security sector, as well as leading a forthcoming 2025 nationwide study on LGBT+ service members. Alongside this empirical research, Hrytsenko has written extensively on gendered disinformation, rape culture, and the political uses of “traditional values” in wartime narratives.
In this interview, Hrytsenko explains how Russia’s war is reshaping gender relations, security institutions, and protection mechanisms for women and LGBT+ service members across Ukraine’s defense and civilian security sectors. She describes an overstretched workforce operating under frontline risk, missile attacks, blackouts, and the compounding burden of unpaid care labor, while tracing how anti harassment reforms have stalled amid budgetary constraints and institutional inertia.
Hrytsenko maps the gaps in complaint mechanisms, the legal non-recognition of same sex partnerships, and the corrosive effects of gendered disinformation on unit cohesion. Throughout, she argues that consent education, empowered gender advisors, and registered partnerships are not symbolic gestures but strategic investments—necessary for Ukraine’s resilience, democratic credibility, and long-term defense capacity at every institutional level.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In your 2024 Global Public Policy Institute policy brief, you outline gender sensitive capacity building for Ukraine’s civilian security sector. Under wartime conditions, which reforms—or investments—would deliver the fastest and most meaningful gains?
Hanna Hrytsenko: The main capacity challenge facing the civilian security sector is not a shortage of reform ideas but chronic overload under extreme conditions. On the frontline, police units evacuate civilians under fire. In the rear, rescue workers face the risk of being killed or injured in so-called “double-tap” rocket attacks. Across the country, prolonged blackouts disrupt even basic administrative work. In many regions, police stations also function as “invincibility centers,” where civilians can access heat, electricity, and internet connectivity.
From this perspective, what is most urgently needed is not institutional redesign but direct capacity strengthening: defensive electronic warfare tools for evacuation teams, generators, charging stations, Starlink terminals, and other equipment that enable people to work and survive. These investments produce immediate, tangible effects.
Speaking specifically about gender sensitivity, women in the civilian security sector carry a compounded burden. Like many women across Ukraine, they perform extensive unpaid care work, which often becomes total when a partner is mobilized. The strain at the intersection of paid security work and unpaid care responsibilities is immense, leaving little time for recovery or mental health support.
Recent research on this intersection recommends greater flexibility in work schedules and conditions. Some progress has been made—for example, children’s spaces have been introduced in parts of the State Emergency Service—but these solutions also raise security concerns. Policymakers at both national and local levels should therefore prioritize secure and flexible infrastructure for childcare, schooling, healthcare, and shelter. Investments in mental health support for civilian security workers are equally essential.
At the same time, there have been notable institutional achievements. The National Police and the State Emergency Service have approved mechanisms to combat discrimination, sexism, sexual harassment, and psychological and sexual violence, and gender assessments are now underway.
Jacobsen: After Invisible Battalion 3.0 and the development of a draft response mechanism for sexual harassment, where does implementation currently stand, given the constraints imposed by full-scale war?
Hrytsenko: The draft anti-harassment mechanism, developed by several NGOs with support from the General Staff and military police, was publicly presented in early 2022. Russia’s full-scale invasion, however, was already imminent, which effectively froze this work.
Initially, the main obstacle was prioritization. As Russian forces advanced toward Kyiv, preserving the state itself took precedence over all other concerns. As the immediate existential threat receded, NGOs pressed for the process to resume, and the Ministry of Defense agreed in principle. The Ministry, however, proposed a different model, shifting responsibility from General Staff personnel to military gender advisors.
This shift exposed a deeper structural problem. Although hundreds of personnel are formally assigned gender advisor duties, most lack dedicated positions, adequate training, or a clear institutional framework. In practice, these responsibilities are often added to already demanding primary roles—such as accounting or administration—leaving little capacity to handle harassment complaints thoughtfully or sustainably.
For the anti-harassment mechanism to function, the gender advisor system must first be institutionalized through dedicated positions. This proposal has faced resistance from the Ministry of Finance on budgetary grounds. In my view, even one full-time gender advisor per brigade would be sufficient and would not impose a significant burden on the military budget. However, this assessment is not universally shared.
Given the scale of reform challenges facing the Ukrainian military, gender advisor and anti-harassment mechanisms are rarely treated as top priorities. Nonetheless, their implementation would strengthen internal equality and help attract and retain motivated women in the armed forces.
Jacobsen: In the absence of a fully operational mechanism, what safeguards—formal or informal—are realistically available to service members who experience sexual harassment or sexual violence today?
Hrytsenko: At present, there are no fully effective safeguards for service members who experience sexual harassment or sexual violence. Draft law No. 13307, which passed its first reading, would amend the Disciplinary Statute to include sexual harassment and crimes against sexual freedom as disciplinary violations. Until the law is fully adopted, however, these provisions remain unenforced.
Survivors can contact the Ministry of Defense’s official hotline, but complaints are placed in a general queue, often delaying immediate responses. The hotline is also not anonymous, meaning a complainant’s identity may be disclosed to their commander. When the commander is also the perpetrator, this creates a serious risk of further harm. Our research shows that these factors strongly discourage reporting.
As a result, many women attempt to resolve situations informally—seeking protection from colleagues, transferring units, or leaving the military altogether when possible. Gender advisors can sometimes intervene, but their authority and investigative procedures remain poorly defined, making outcomes highly dependent on personal initiative rather than institutional power.
Survivors may also seek legal assistance outside the military through NGOs specializing in gender-based violence. In practice, the most severe internal consequence for perpetrators is often a reprimand or transfer. To date, there are no known court decisions establishing guilt in such cases.
Ukraine has recently established a military ombudsman’s office, which can receive complaints and initiate investigations. While promising, this remains a workaround rather than a substitute for a dedicated mechanism, and there is not yet sufficient data to assess its effectiveness.
Jacobsen: Drawing on the 2025 First Comprehensive Study on the Situation of LGBT+ Service Members, what findings should commanders and lawmakers act on first, and why do these issues have such immediate implications for morale and retention?
Hrytsenko: The most urgent issue facing LGBT+ service members is the lack of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships. Because Ukrainian law does not allow registered partnerships, partners are legally treated as strangers. In cases of death or severe injury, this exclusion means no access to survivor benefits, burial decisions, inheritance, or medical decision-making.
This legal vacuum directly affects morale. Service members describe the situation as a broken contract: they fulfill their obligations to the state, while the state fails to fulfill its obligations to them. Draft law No. 9103 stalled in parliament amid opposition from conservative lawmakers and the Orthodox Church. An alternative draft law, No. 12252, has likewise failed to advance.
Lawmakers should adopt registered partnership legislation without further delay. Thousands of military families are affected, and the issue is not abstract—it shapes trust in the state during wartime.
At the unit level, commanders must actively prevent homophobic and transphobic bullying. This does not require new mechanisms so much as consistent leadership. Commanders must be able to manage diverse units and maintain professional environments grounded in respect for personal boundaries and life circumstances.
Jacobsen: You have written extensively on gender misinformation and rape during wartime, including the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Within military units, which narratives or myths most seriously undermine trust and cohesion?
Hrytsenko: Unit cohesion erodes when trust between service members breaks down, and the primary source of that breakdown is the perpetrator of abuse. Gender misinformation contributes indirectly by normalizing misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, increasing the likelihood of conflict and violence in diverse units.
Our research documented cases in which perpetrators apologized after intervention but clearly did not understand why their behavior was wrong. This reflects broader gaps in knowledge about consent culture, which remains unfamiliar in parts of society. Education is therefore essential.
At the same time, not all abuses are unintentional. Some involve explicit sexual or physical violence and must be addressed through immediate intervention by commanders, gender advisors, military police, and the ombudsman.
As Kratochvíl and O’Sullivan argue, Russia’s war on Ukraine is also a war on gender order, advancing so-called “traditional values” in opposition to equality and diversity. Harassment within the Ukrainian military is already exploited in hostile gender-disinformation campaigns. Public discussion of these issues should therefore be understood not as undermining Ukraine’s struggle, but as evidence of a military willing to confront its own internal challenges.
Jacobsen: Following from that, which countermeasures—whether educational, disciplinary, or leadership driven—have proven most effective in addressing sexism, homophobia, and sexualized violence inside military structures?
Hrytsenko: When discriminatory behavior stems from ignorance rather than intent, education and gender-sensitive leadership can be effective counter-measures. NGOs, international organizations, and gender advisors should provide basic training on gender, consent, and diversity, while commanders must model respectful behavior and fair conflict resolution.
Survivors also need greater awareness that harmful behavior is not merely interpersonal conflict but a structural problem that warrants intervention. In our research, we allowed respondents to describe experiences without forcing them into narrow legal definitions, which helped many articulate harm they had previously minimized.
In cases of explicit sexual or physical violence, however, education is insufficient. Commanders and military police must intervene immediately to ensure the safety of survivors and accountability.
Jacobsen: The Invisible Battalion also developed a Promethean e-learning course on gender equality and anti-harassment. What do the available uptake and completion figures tell us about institutional appetite for this kind of training?
Hrytsenko: Between 2021 and 2024, 29,209 participants enrolled in the Prometheus course, and 88.7 percent completed it. For security reasons, the platform does not track how many participants are military personnel.
To increase engagement, we invited respected male and female opinion leaders within the military to deliver lectures, rather than relying solely on the course authors. We believe this approach helps normalize gender sensitivity and aligns with broader initiatives such as the global #HeForShe movement.
Jacobsen: From the origins of the Invisible Battalion project through subsequent UN-backed studies, which gender equality norms in Ukraine are most at risk of erosion or reversal as the war drags on, and which have proven unexpectedly resilient?
Hrytsenko: Since Russia’s initial intervention in 2014, government-controlled areas of Ukraine have demonstrated sustained progress on gender equality. Contrary to expectations of conservative backlash, key reforms have advanced: ratification of the Istanbul Convention, equal service terms for women and men in the military, increased visibility of women in uniform, a consent-based definition of rape in the Criminal Code, parliamentary gender quotas, and the integration of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.
At the same time, women in newly occupied territories face extreme risks, including torture, sexual violence, and the criminalization of LGBT+ identities. Internally displaced women are more vulnerable to unemployment and expanded care burdens, while women fleeing abroad face risks such as trafficking.
For international feminists seeking to support Ukrainian women, the most meaningful contribution is advocacy for military assistance. The Ukrainian armed forces are the barrier preventing mass repression, sexual violence, and terror in occupied territories. In this sense, gender equality is inseparable from Ukraine’s capacity to defend itself.
Jacobsen: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Hanna.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/14
Mykhailo Gonchar is a Ukrainian expert specializing in energy security and geopolitics. He is the founder and president of the Kyiv-based think tank, the Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI,” and serves as editor-in-chief of the Black Sea Security journal. Previously, he led energy programs at the Sevastopol-based NOMOS Center and later headed its Kyiv office. Earlier in his career, he worked both within Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and in the oil-and-gas sector.
Gonchar’s analysis centers on Russia’s use of energy coercion, its methods of sanctions evasion, and the resilience of European critical infrastructure and supply routes. Since founding Strategy XXI in 2009, he has published policy studies and commentaries that have helped shape debates on Ukraine’s role in European and regional energy security.
In this interview, Gonchar contends that Western policymakers long misread Russia’s energy exports as ordinary commerce rather than as a dual-use weapon capable of financing repression and war. He dismantles the logic of Wandel durch Handel, pointing to its failure after both 2014 and 2022, and argues that only Russia’s military defeat can open the possibility for genuine transformation. Gonchar assesses the G7 oil price cap as porous, calls for preventive and asymmetric defenses to protect EU critical infrastructure, and underscores the importance of resilience within Ukraine’s wartime energy markets. He also warns that the Black Sea shipping corridor remains vulnerable to evolving Russian threats and urges the closure of key banking channels that enable sanctions evasion. Editorially, Black Sea Security continues to track these overlapping fronts.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What do you see as the most persistent blind spots among Western policymakers when it comes to Russia’s use of energy as a tool of warfare rather than mere commerce?
Mykhailo Gonchar: The biggest mistake Western politicians and policymakers made—and many still make—is the illusion that Russia’s energy resources are merely commodities that generate revenue. For Russia, oil and gas are not simply commodities; they are a dual-use instrument. In the hands of the Kremlin, energy has long functioned as a weapon.
This weapon fuels corruption in client countries served by Russian state and private energy companies. Russia never concealed this reality. In the first edition of the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation, adopted in 2003 during the “early Putin” period, it was stated plainly at the outset: “Russia has significant reserves of energy resources and a powerful fuel and energy complex, which is the basis for economic development, an instrument for conducting domestic and foreign policy.”
Another major mistake was the belief in mutual interdependence—that while Europe depended on Russian gas and oil, Russia depended on European money and therefore would refrain from hostile behavior. This assumption proved fundamentally flawed.
A further error was the expectation that trade with Europe would gradually lead Russia to adopt European rules, management practices, and democratic norms. The doctrine of Wandel durch Handel, pursued by the Schröder and Merkel governments, was deeply misguided. The revenues generated from trade with Europe instead fueled revanchist sentiment through massive anti-Western propaganda, strengthened the FSB’s repressive apparatus, expanded the military-industrial complex, and ultimately financed the Kremlin’s war machine.
Jacobsen: Following from that assessment, which of those assumptions have Western leaders genuinely been disabused of since Russia’s full-scale invasion—and which illusions, in your view, continue to shape European thinking?
Gonchar: Western politicians of the past, such as Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel, fundamentally misunderstood Russia. After February 24, 2022, they likely recognized their mistakes. Yet Merkel has been unwilling to fully admit them, while Schröder cannot do so in principle, having long since become part of Russia’s hybrid aggression within Europe itself.
The only prominent German politician associated with Wandel durch Handel who publicly acknowledged failure was Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In May 2022, he described his past Russia policy as “a failure on many levels,” caused in part by a long-standing disregard for warnings from Eastern European countries, particularly after 2014.
I was among the few experts from Eastern Europe who warned, at major international forums, about the hidden purpose of Russian energy projects such as Nord Stream, South Stream, and later TurkStream—often in opposition to what I would call the confidence of “omniscient Western experts.”
As for today’s European leaders, many continue to harbor illusions that after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war—or some imagined “peaceful settlement”—business with Russia can resume. Others believe that if Putin’s regime collapses and Russia embarks on democratic reform, close cooperation should quickly follow. In essence, this is a return to Wandel durch Handel, rooted in a failure to recognize that much of Russia’s political opposition shares the same imperial worldview as Putin himself.
Only a military defeat of Russia can initiate a deep societal transformation. Nearly four years of full-scale war have shown that Russian society broadly supports the genocidal campaign against Ukraine. There have been no mass protests or sustained anti-war movements. This is not merely Putin’s war; it is a war waged by the Russian state and society to destroy the Ukrainian people, eliminate Ukrainian statehood, and erase Ukrainian identity under the imperial notion that Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians constitute a single nation.
Misunderstanding the nature of Russian aggression leads to renewed illusions of opportunity—especially the hope of returning to “cheap gas.” As recent years have demonstrated, the price of that gas is ultimately far higher than advertised. For Russia, energy has never been just a commodity.
Moreover, acting through KGB- and FSB-style methods, Putin’s Russia successfully recruited promising European politicians as agents of influence. Once in power, they became Kremlin Trojan horses within the EU and NATO, tasked with weakening Western alliances from within. Brussels still fails to fully grasp that figures such as Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico are not acting in Europe’s interests.
Jacobsen: Much has been made of the G7 oil price cap as a constraint on Russia’s war financing. From what you can observe, how effective is the mechanism in practice today, and where does it fall short?
Gonchar: No one knows the real prices embedded in oil purchase and sale contracts, as these remain commercial secrets. Compounding the problem, in late 2022, Putin issued a decree banning the supply of Russian oil and petroleum products to any foreign entities whose contracts—directly or indirectly—reference a price cap.
Tankers belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet operate without insurance from the London P&I Club. As a result, the effectiveness of the price cap is far more limited than publicly acknowledged.
Jacobsen: Looking beyond reactive measures, what kind of long-term security architecture would be required to meaningfully deter sub-threshold sabotage and hybrid attacks against critical EU infrastructure, particularly in maritime and energy domains?
Gonchar: It is difficult to say precisely what form a future security architecture might take. However, based on the experience Ukraine has gained—and continues to gain—while repelling Russian aggression, several principles are already clear.
Europe cannot afford to act purely reactively. Preventive measures are essential, particularly those that create a credible projection of threat against the “predator” preparing to damage or disable critical infrastructure, especially in underwater and energy domains.
Several conclusions follow. It is unrealistic to expect that thousands of energy facilities and tens of thousands of kilometers of underwater communications across European seas can be fully protected. Civilian offshore oil and gas infrastructure must therefore be prepared to withstand military attack.
Special attention must be paid to nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities located along coastlines. Measures must also exist to prevent enemy seizure of offshore facilities—and, if capture occurs, to ensure they cannot be used for hostile purposes.
Specialized enemy vessels capable of carrying out sabotage must be identified in advance and destroyed at H-Hour. Likewise, a list of targets for immediate destruction within enemy territory must be prepared beforehand.
Europe must abandon a false anti-escalation mindset. As an old Latin maxim reminds us, nullum magnum periculum sine periculo vincitur—great danger cannot be overcome without risk. You do not need to intercept every arrow; you must eliminate the archer.
Jacobsen: As Ukraine continues to fight a full-scale war, how should Kyiv think about sequencing domestic energy-market reforms without undermining resilience or public trust during wartime conditions?
Gonchar: In wartime, the primary objective is to protect energy infrastructure and restore it as quickly as possible when damaged. This applies to both networks and generation capacity. The state must regulate energy markets without resorting to populism.
Strategic reserves—oil, petroleum products, natural gas, nuclear fuel—must be secured in advance. Distributed generation, reserve capacity, energy storage, and transmission resilience are essential components of wartime energy security.
Jacobsen: The Black Sea shipping corridor has become both a lifeline and a vulnerability. How resilient is it, in your assessment, against Russia’s evolving hybrid and asymmetric threats?
Gonchar: The corridor is currently more or less protected, thanks to Ukrainian Defense Forces neutralizing much of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. However, Russia has significantly expanded its naval strike-drone capabilities over the past two years and maintains air superiority.
Unable to operate freely at sea, Russia now systematically attacks Ukrainian port infrastructure with Shahed drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. In response, Ukraine has little choice but to strike Russia’s oil, gas, and energy infrastructure along the Black Sea.
Jacobsen: Sanctions enforcement ultimately runs through specific jurisdictions, banks, and insurers. Which sanctions-evasion nodes strike you as the most urgent targets for coordinated Western action?
Gonchar: Western sanctions against Russia’s banking system resemble Swiss cheese—more holes than substance. As of October 2025, only 93 Russian banks had been disconnected from SWIFT, while 212 institutions retained the ability to conduct full foreign-currency operations.
True effectiveness requires total financial isolation of Russia’s banking system from the Western one.
Jacobsen: Finally, as editor-in-chief of Black Sea Security, what editorial and thematic priorities are guiding the journal’s work at this moment in the war?
Gonchar: Our priorities include Russian aggression against Ukraine and Europe, maritime warfare, conditions in occupied territories, developments across the Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and Caspian regions, energy security, critical infrastructure protection, and Chinese expansion. This is not an exhaustive list, but it reflects our core focus this year.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Michael.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/11
Professor Ayşegül Aydıngün, a sociologist at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, has spent decades tracing how identity is formed, threatened, and remade across the post-Soviet world. Her work follows communities shaped by exile and return—Meskhetian Turks, Crimean Tatars, Georgians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, and Kists—while examining the fault lines of ethnicity, nationalism, religion, and state power. She has written extensively on language politics, cultural revival, minority rights, and nation-building, and during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she helped bring global attention to Ukrainian academics through the “Science Amid the Terror of War” initiative.
In this conversation, Aydıngün unpacks Russia’s assault on identity in both Crimea and mainland Ukraine—from the dismantling of Crimean Tatar education to forced Russification, systemic repression, and the ICC-recognized abduction of Ukrainian children. She explains how Moscow’s historical narrative underpins these policies, how diasporas have mobilized in response, and why the erosion of international law endangers far more than Ukraine. Aydıngün also reflects on the ethics of fieldwork under pressure, and on the responsibilities scholars carry when documenting communities living under occupation.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Since Russia’s 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea, how have Crimean Tatar identity, everyday language use, and the structure of their schooling system been reshaped?
Professor Ayşegül Aydıngün: First, I would like to note that I conducted several field research in Crimea between 2002 and 2014. This allowed me to observe the return process of the Crimean Tatars to Crimea after their deportation to Central Asian countries by Stalin in 1944. It was only in 1989, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, that they obtained the right to return to their homeland, despite resistance from Crimean Russians and the Crimean government.
This return was quite a difficult one as the Crimean government did not welcome them, and those who settled in their houses after deportation were afraid that the Crimean Tatars would claim their houses. However, the Crimean Tatar leadership and Crimean Tatars articulated their demands in an extremely peaceful manner, openly stated that they would not seek to reclaim their previous homes, and began settling on the outskirts of the cities. They first lived in tents, and later built homes and mosques. The process of returning to their homeland, from 1989 to 2014, was actually quite difficult. But the Crimean Tatars, without losing determination and without entering into any conflict with the local population, began to build a new life for themselves from scratch.
The Crimean Tatar Mejlis and activists initiated a cultural revival project. They began reviving traditional cultural elements, ranging from the restoration of Crimean Tatar cultural heritage sites to the preservation of handicrafts. They established National Schools. In these schools, alongside the Ukrainian curriculum, the Crimean Tatar language was also taught. Many Crimean Tatar children were mostly going to these schools. Yet at that time, Crimean Tatar was not recognized as an official language in Crimea. Nevertheless, there was no obstacle to offering it as a subject, nor was there any objection to the opening of these schools.
After the invasion and annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, National Schools were subjected to strict control. First and foremost, the use of Ukrainian state textbooks in all schools, including National Schools, was prohibited. I had the opportunity to observe the post-annexation situation in Crimea as a member of the unofficial Turkish delegation in 2015, which was, at the time, one of two delegations to enter Crimea after the annexation. I spoke with some teachers and learned that new textbooks were not provided and that children’s education was disrupted. Although the Crimean Tatar language was legally recognized as an official language after the annexation, I learned how great the pressure on language was. People were even afraid of speaking it outside the home. A policy was adopted requiring children to speak only Russian.
Briefly, during our visit to Crimea, we had the opportunity to meet with both Crimean de facto government officials and Crimean Tatars. In these meetings, we identified significant differences between what the official authorities said and what the Crimean Tatars reported. We realized that the social realities on the ground aligned far more closely with the accounts given by Crimean Tatars. We also observed a major discrepancy between what de facto authorities claimed and the actual situation regarding language use and education.
Jacobsen: What forms of human rights abuses have Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians faced under Russian occupation, and how have those violations evolved?
Aydıngün: Human rights violations against the Crimean Tatars have significantly increased after Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014. Soon after the annexation a sharp increase in harassment of Crimean Tatars, especially against the members of the Mejlis and members of the Crimean Tatar movement. Disappearances of Crimean Tatars, arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful detentions, illegal raids in Crimean Tatar homes and mosques became very frequent.
The Crimean Tatar Mejlis was closed down, and its members were exiled, imprisoned, or regularly interrogated. In addition, they were forced to take Russian citizenship. If they did not take the Russian citizenship, they would be unable to receive their pensions, access hospitals, receive education, in short, they would be deprived of basic civil rights. Another important point was the transition to a new legal system. The transition to the Russian legal system was announced on March 21, 2014, and later extended to January 1, 2015. However, based on the information we obtained, we realized during our visit to Crimea that events that occurred before that date were also carried out under the Russian legal system.
Many Crimean Tatar activists were criminalized based on their electronic communications that fall before the specified dates. It was clear that their legal rights, privacy, and communication rights were violated. We have seen that the Crimean Tatars do not trust the de facto authorities and live under pressure and fear. We have also understood that Russia’s laws on extremism, separatism, and terrorism were used by the de facto authorities to suppress the Crimean Tatar people. The Crimean Tatar leaders were accused of extremism. Crimean Tatars were subjected to systematic and arbitrary interrogations and arrests. They were also subjected to unfair trial procedures. Freedom of expression, travel, demonstration, and assembly were forbidden. There was intense pressure on the media and journalists. These practices have not only continued but have escalated steadily into the present.
In fact, the most shocking human rights violation, which began in 2014 and has intensified even further after 2022, has targeted Ukrainian children. I cannot help but emphasize this. This situation has also been recognized by the International Criminal Court as an act of genocide. Russia has been abducting Ukrainian children from the territories under occupation, transporting them to Russia, granting them Russian citizenship, erasing all records of their past, and placing them for adoption with Russian families. Initially, these children were taken from orphanages; later, those who lost their parents in the war were taken; and in some cases, parents were coerced or manipulated into giving up their children. These children are being forcibly Russified. It is impossible to accept this attack on Ukrainian identity, carried out through the children.
Jacobsen: How should we interpret Russia’s identity-targeting policies in Ukraine, including in Crimea, and what deeper historical or ideological currents help explain them?
Aydıngün: I believe Russia’s actions cannot be understood without knowing Russian history; yet international relations experts and military analysts tend to overlook or dismiss it. Putin, however, heavily relies on history to justify his actions. A clear example is his February 21, 2022, speech recognizing the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. This nearly 56-minute speech is key to understanding today’s events in Ukraine.
Putin devoted minimal attention to security issues and instead built his argument almost entirely on the Russian national historical narrative. He claimed that since the 17th century, Ukraine has been an inseparable part of Russia in historical, cultural, and spiritual terms, stressing blood ties and kinship between Russians and Ukrainians. He also noted that before the 17th century, Ukrainians referred to themselves as “Rus” and “Pravoslav.”
One of the most striking elements of this speech was Putin’s criticism of Lenin. He argued that Lenin had divided Russian lands into artificial administrative units. This reveals that Russia’s territorial claims are not confined to Ukraine, and that Putin believes he has rights over states established on what he regards as “historical Russian lands.” Putin defined the territories of the Soviet Union as historical Russia. He further claimed that Stalin incorporated lands taken from Poland, Romania, and Hungary into Ukraine during the Second World War, and that Crimea was handed over to Ukraine in 1954.
Putin also asserted that Ukraine had never been a real state, that after 1991 it adopted a state model incompatible with its history and realities, and that Ukrainian leaders ignored the interests of their people. He stated that Russians were made to feel unwanted through legal regulations, that clergy linked to the Moscow Patriarchate were discriminated against, and that without the territories taken from the Ottoman Empire and called New Russia in the 18th century, Ukraine would lack both those cities and access to the Black Sea.
Thus, understanding how Putin justifies his decisions and Russia’s policies requires understanding not only the dominant Russian historical narrative but also the historical facts that often contradict it. In hindsight, this speech provided significant clues about the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and what would follow.
Throughout history, Russia’s use of the slogan “the brotherhood of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples” has effectively served as an assault on Ukrainian identity, culture, art, and independence—indeed, as an attempt to appropriate them. Numerous historical and contemporary facts support this, including Russia’s refusal to recognize Ukraine as a sovereign state or the Ukrainians as a distinct people.
Some analysts recently argued that Ukraine holds existential significance for Russia, and understanding this is crucial. It is existential because recognizing the independent existence of the Ukrainian people, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state, would require Russia to redefine its own identity and reconstruct its historical and national narrative—something, as reflected in Putin’s speech, that Russia is not currently willing or able to do.
For this reason, Ukraine is of existential importance to Russia. However, this reality must not be used to legitimize the invasion of an independent state, but rather to understand the motivations behind it and Russia’s broader policy.
Ukraine remains poorly understood in the West, where many still believe Russians and Ukrainians are part of the same nation—a notion rooted in centuries of Russian narrative. Until 2014, Ukrainians were often seen as “brothers” or even the same people, a stereotype used politically by Russia. The post-2014 conflict revealed the contradictions of this narrative, as many struggled to reconcile Putin’s actions with the idea of fraternal ties.
The claims of shared religion and language are also overstated. Ukraine is multi-religious: a significant portion is Orthodox, with a smaller Greek Catholic (Uniate) population in the West, and Jews and Muslims, including Crimean Tatars, also reside in Ukraine. Even within Orthodoxy, national distinctions exist, and language does not straightforwardly define identity. Studies confirm this complexity.
From a Russian historical perspective, Kyiv is symbolically central as the city of the founders of “Holy Rus,” a Russian state. Ukraine is also crucial for the Russian Orthodox Church, as its leadership depends on controlling Ukrainian churches. For Russia, these issues carry demographic, spiritual, social, political, and ideological significance.
Throughout history, Russia has sought to establish dominance over Ukrainians, rejecting everything unique to them and reshaping it according to its own needs. However, it should be noted that since the mid-17th century—when Moscow began to establish control over today’s Ukrainian territories—and especially since the mid-19th century, Ukrainians have resisted this, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully.
To understand the Soviet period and its aftermath, we must briefly consider the earlier era. The Russian claim of “brotherhood” between Russians and Ukrainians predates the Soviet Union, rooted in a time when religion was a defining element. This does not mean Ukrainians were unaware of their distinct identity, nor does it mean that sharing a religion led to full assimilation. Historically, close ties with Russians were maintained mainly by Ukrainian political elites and intellectuals, not the rural population.
After 2014, these elites became the most anti-Russian, marking a decisive turning point when Ukrainian identity found political mobilization, and politicization became inevitable. By 2019, Ukrainians realized their “brothers” could kill them, a perception sharpened further since February 2022. Whether Russia truly believes in this “brotherhood” is unclear, as history is often written by states that marginalize societies.
Russian migration to Ukrainian lands began in the 14th–15th centuries and continued through the Soviet era. Cultural dominance gained political force with the 1654 Pereyaslav Agreement, which placed the Cossack Hetmanate under Muscovite protection.
During the Soviet era, Russian migration to Ukraine continued, while Ukrainians were also strategically resettled across Soviet republics, often being perceived as Russians and adopting this identity. From the 1930s to 1989, the Russian population in Ukraine grew from roughly 4 million (10%) to over 11 million (20%). Differences between Russians and Ukrainians eroded, especially in urban areas, as Russian became widespread, Soviet policies minimized distinctions, and mixed marriages increased.
Dissident Ukrainian nationalists existed but were labeled “bourgeois nationalists,” preventing the full development and politicization of Ukrainian identity. After the Soviet collapse, migration flows continued in both directions, with some Ukrainians returning home, others moving to Russia, and Russians migrating to Ukraine.
Ukrainians remained among the peoples closest to Russians in the post-Soviet republics. National identity emerged through the self/other dichotomy, and Russia’s imperial mindset denied newly forming nations like Ukraine and Belarus. Slavic Orthodox peoples, especially Ukrainians and Belarusians, hold existential importance for Russia due to their centrality to the Russian historical narrative and demographic concerns.
The events of 2014 and the full-scale invasion of 2022 disrupted historical intertwinement, close relations, and even family ties, accelerating the politicization of Ukrainian national identity.
Crimean Tatars’ identity has also been targeted since 1783. After this date, more than 2 million Crimean Tatars were gradually forced to migrate to Ottoman territories. Following the first annexation of Crimea, Russians began a process of “de-CrimeanTatarization,” culminating in 1944 with Stalin’s deportation of nearly the entire Tatar population to Central Asia. While Crimean Tatars had made up over 85% of the population during the first annexation, by 1944 their presence had been reduced to almost zero.
After 1944, Crimean Tatars were forced to live in the Central Asian republics, yet they never lost their identity or their desire to return to their homeland. In 1989, after decades of struggle for the right to return, they officially regained this right and began to return. This process, full of hardships but also hope, came to an end in 2014 with the second annexation of Crimea. Thus, the project of de-CrimeanTatarization of Crimea was implemented for a second time.
Jacobsen: What legal mechanisms still matter for safeguarding minority language and education rights, especially in an era when international norms are increasingly under strain?
Aydıngün: We are unfortunately living in an era in which legal instruments and international law in general are being trampled on. This is not only true for Russia. Other global powers are also remarkably unwilling to protect the global legal order that they themselves established.
This is a situation of anomie, as Durkheim would put it. The violation of international law disrupts the global system’s stability and shakes the existing security order. It is a global issue that concerns all of us because the erosion of the international legal order paves the way for power politics, which, in my view, it already has—repeats legal violations, and even increases the risk of war. The reason I say it has paved the way for power politics is that competing global actors—namely, the U.S., Russia, and maybe Europe—who do not trust one another, who critique and accuse one another, can nevertheless agree on decisions that undermine confidence in the global system. This, without doubt, manifests globally in the form of weaker states being forced into agreements that trample on international law and are compelled to adopt unlawful decisions.
What is being imposed on Ukraine today is precisely this. In this context, if global institutions fail to act as required, they lose legitimacy, and the purpose of the entire system comes into question. Therefore, I would like to emphasize—by underlining it—that the violation of international law is not merely the problem of the states involved, but that it fundamentally threatens the global order. In such a situation, discussing education and language rights becomes meaningless.
First and foremost, we need to understand this: in many countries around the world, including for Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, people’s most fundamental right—the right to life—is not being protected.
Jacobsen: What insights did the “Science Amid the Terror of War” project offer about how Ukrainian academics are navigating the war and developing strategies for intellectual and personal survival?
Aydıngün: Let me first explain what the “Science Amid the Terror of War” project is. I thought about what we could do for Ukraine after the invasion started in 2022. As a faculty member and a sociologist, I considered focusing on the experiences of our professional community. I shared the idea of preparing video notes with İsmail Aydıngün and Irina Pokrovska, and we developed it together.
Our goal was to share how our colleagues experience this war in their personal lives, and to amplify the voices of Ukrainian academics. Another aim was to document and preserve these experiences, raising awareness of the hardships, pain, and struggles our colleagues face. However, this was not just the work of the three of us; many colleagues supported us, for example, in editing and preparing the videos, translating them, and handling the technical terminology. We consulted and received help from many experts, who contributed with great enthusiasm. We decided to prepare a series of ten videos, and of course, we could not have achieved this without the support of our Ukrainian colleagues. Despite the difficult conditions, they sent us the videos they recorded with their mobiles.
In these videos, we identified two common messages. The first was the determination of Ukrainian academics to continue their scientific work despite the war. The second, which echoed the sentiments of the Ukrainian people in general, was that they were resolved to continue living and resisting wherever they are.
I believe that these video notes have successfully conveyed the voices of Ukrainian academics to many of our peers around the world. We shared them not only on YouTube but also on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In this way, we emphasized our solidarity with our Ukrainian colleagues.
Jacobsen: How are diaspora networks influencing policy in countries outside Ukraine, and in what ways have these communities mobilized in response to the war?
Aydıngün: The annexation of Crimea brought together Crimean Tatar diasporas across different countries. Similarly, the invasion of Ukraine united Ukrainian diasporas. Moreover, the diasporas of both peoples began collaborating and have remained in continuous solidarity. The two diasporas have carried out many joint activities—and continue to do so. Crimean Tatars have provided remarkable support to Ukrainians, a support that has only grown since the occupation of Crimea. Undoubtedly, pro-Russian voices exist, but these small groups are marginal and ineffective, as they are disconnected from societal realities.
The vast majority of Crimean Tatars have taken a stance in support of Ukraine and have shown strong resistance against the Russian occupation both within the Crimean Peninsula and internationally. By the end of 2018, Ukraine and the Crimean Tatars had formed an alliance against Moscow. 50 Crimean Tatar associations in Turkey, home to the world’s largest Crimean Tatar diaspora, came together to declare their opposition to the occupation. In addition to these organizations, the decisions of the 2nd World Congress of Crimean Tatars, organized with the participation of 184 civil society organizations from 16 countries worldwide, are noteworthy. The Crimean Tatar Kurultay and Mejlis also demonstrated their clear support for Ukraine. Crimean Tatar associations have opposed not only the occupation of Crimea but also the invasion of Ukraine.
Similarly, the Ukrainian diaspora has shown solidarity with Crimean Tatars, both in Turkey and in countries such as Canada and the United States. Ukrainian associations have strengthened their cooperation through conferences, exhibitions, and fairs to raise awareness of the situation in Ukraine. Approximately 65,000–70,000 Ukrainians currently live in Turkey, half of whom arrived after the occupation. The first Ukrainian associations were established in Istanbul in 2008 and in Antalya in 2009. In 2017, six more associations were founded in different cities. Today, there are 23 Ukrainian associations across 14 cities. Today, there are 23 associations across 14 cities. These organizations have played a crucial role in organizing the Ukrainian diaspora in Turkey, providing support to those who fled the war, and, both independently and in cooperation with Crimean Tatars, organizing demonstrations and activities.
Jacobsen: From a research standpoint, how do you balance access and ethical obligations with the need to protect people’s safety when working in or near an active conflict zone?
Aydıngün: Except for my 2015 visit to Crimea with the unofficial Turkish delegation, all my research in Crimea and Ukraine was conducted before 2014, and my research in mainland Ukraine was conducted before 2022. Therefore, I have not been in an active conflict zone. However, despite this, the sensitive situation of the groups I worked with, the challenges and pressures they faced, required serious caution even during periods when life appeared normal. The safety of the individuals I interviewed has always been my priority.
I have always viewed collecting data in ways that could endanger them as an ethical problem. In situations like this, I did not conduct the interviews. In sensitive settings and circumstances, I avoided recording; whenever possible, I took notes either immediately after the interview or during it. Recording often limits what interviewees are willing to share and also draws unnecessary attention, potentially putting the interviewee in a problematic or risky situation. On the other hand, when a recording is made, ensuring its security can also be difficult in certain situations. As for my notes, I never write the names of the people I interview at the top. The security of the notes themselves is also of particular importance. Therefore, a researcher’s ethical responsibility towards the individuals they interviewed does not end until they return to their country with the notes and until the use of the data is fully completed.
It is clear that doing research during so-called “normal times” and active conflict requires methodological caution and moral responsibility. As I mentioned in 2015, I went to Crimea as a member of the unofficial Turkish delegation to study the situation of the Crimean Tatars. At that time, conducting interviews was extremely risky for the people we spoke to, because there was immense pressure on the Crimean Tatars. This situation continues. We only spoke with those who wanted to talk to us. On the one hand, we needed to document the situation, confirm disappearances and deaths; on the other hand, we could not compromise on ethical principles. Those were quite challenging days. But as I said, we only spoke to those who approached us voluntarily, and it was already known that our delegation would be coming. In fact, it was mainly those who were actively involved in the Crimean Tatar national movement who wanted to speak with us. They were already at risk and accustomed to living with that risk. I did not call anybody I knew from my earlier research. The atmosphere of fear was so intense that, while interviewing in a café, the owner asked us to leave.
Jacobsen: Thank you, Ayşegül, for your insight and for sharing your time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): International Policy Digest
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/08
Dr. Gurgen Petrossian serves as Senior Officer for International Criminal Law at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, where he works on accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. An Armenian legal scholar by training, he lectures on international criminal law at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg and at the Catholic University of Eichstätt–Ingolstadt. His research and practice stretch across international criminal law, human rights, and procedural justice, with significant experience in conflict-related sexual violence, victims’ rights before the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the intersection of business and human rights. He has also advised a major German textile company on supply-chain due diligence and currently chairs the German-Armenian Lawyers’ Association.
I spoke with Petrossian about how the legacy of Nuremberg shapes contemporary efforts to hold Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine. In our conversation, he delineated three interconnected layers of justice: the work of the International Criminal Court, the expanding role of universal jurisdiction in Europe, and the daily prosecutions carried out by Ukrainian courts. He emphasized the persistent challenges these systems face—from enforcing ICC arrest warrants and proving command responsibility to harmonizing Ukrainian law with the Rome Statute. Drawing on lessons from Syria, Iraq, the Yazidi genocide, and the specialized trials that followed Nuremberg, Petrossian highlighted the demanding evidentiary standards, the danger of media narratives preempting legal judgments, and the urgent need to train the next generation of jurists in humanitarian, human-rights, and international criminal law.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In terms of international law, which category of crime is the most significant and carries the greatest legal justification and weight?
Gurgen Petrossian: Thank you very much for having me. As we have this conversation, we mark a significant moment in international criminal justice—the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Judgment. This connects directly to the Russian–Ukrainian war and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
We need to differentiate between three levels. One is the International Criminal Court. The second is universal jurisdiction. The third is the Ukrainian courts, which address international crimes daily.
At the International Criminal Court level, we have one of the most significant developments: the ICC arrest warrants issued for the President of the Russian Federation and the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. Additional investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Ukrainian territory are ongoing. A central challenge remains the execution of ICC arrest warrants, as Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and does not surrender suspects.
The second level is universal jurisdiction, under which certain national courts have the legal authority to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide regardless of where they were committed and irrespective of the nationality of the perpetrator or victim. Several European states—such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries—have expanded laws allowing prosecution of foreign nationals involved in atrocity crimes abroad. This system has previously led to the arrest and conviction of individuals implicated in conflicts such as those in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Syria.
A similar process is occurring today. When a suspected perpetrator enters the territory of a state that applies universal jurisdiction, they may be investigated and prosecuted. European prosecutors and specialized war-crimes units monitor individuals who may have participated in crimes in eastern Ukraine or other affected regions.
The third level is the Ukrainian court system. Ukrainian courts are actively prosecuting violations of international humanitarian law, including cases related to torture, unlawful detention, deliberate attacks on civilians, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. Ukraine has initiated thousands of investigations and continues to expand its capacity to document and prosecute war crimes committed on its territory.
Killing of prisoners of war, killing of other protected persons under international humanitarian law. Another major topic is the creation of a special tribunal for Ukraine to try the crime of aggression, which is not within the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction. How this will develop remains a significant question. Even though the Council of Europe and Ukraine have signed the statute, it still must be ratified. There are many logistical questions: Who will finance it? How will it function? And so on. So the tribunal on aggression is still an open question—how it will be implemented and exercised in practice.
Jacobsen: In your ASIL Insights essay, you outline how Germany has become a leading venue for prosecuting atrocity crimes through universal jurisdiction. As new evidence from Ukraine reaches European courts, how is Germany recalibrating this tool of international justice? And what legal or practical limits should we keep in mind as its role expands?
Petrossian: First, if I begin with the risks, for German prosecutors, it is always difficult and a significant challenge to try cases involving crimes committed abroad. They do not always understand the language. They do not have access to the crime scene. They mostly rely on victims who are present in Germany. This creates a significant prosecutorial challenge because you do not always have the complete set of evidence needed to prosecute someone you have never met who committed a crime outside Germany. It is always a difficult task.
But there are opportunities. Victims are present in Germany. Victims are witnesses. Their testimonies represent the crime scenes themselves, and they can advise prosecutors about whom to prosecute and for which crimes—if there is sufficient evidence. Germany has prior experience with cases involving Syria and Iraq. German prosecutors and courts are well-equipped to handle such cases. The legal foundation is in place. Germany can prosecute effectively as soon as the perpetrators are physically on German territory, as I mentioned earlier. That is one of the key requirements under German procedural law: the suspect must be present in Germany to initiate prosecution.
Jacobsen: When you train Ukrainian judges in prosecuting and adjudicating war crimes, what limits or gaps are you seeing in the Ukrainian domestic courts?
Petrossian: Thank you for asking this—it is one of the most relevant questions and a central issue we face in the Ukrainian system. Fortunately, Ukraine has become a member of the International Criminal Court, and it is in the process of aligning its legal system with the Rome Statute. This means incorporating crimes against humanity and properly listing war crimes. This is precisely where the problem lies: defining and listing war crimes.
In that region, countries such as Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine have traditionally relied on the Geneva Conventions. They were parties to the Geneva Conventions, but did not fully incorporate the war crimes provisions into their domestic law.
The best example remains Germany, where war crimes are listed explicitly in domestic law. German law specifies what constitutes war crimes—war crimes against persons, war crimes against property. In the Geneva Conventions, these definitions are more vague, and as a result, they were not fully implemented into national legislation. We see the same issue in Ukraine.
I hope the Ukrainian legal system will advance in this area, listing war crimes more specifically. The more precisely war crimes are defined, the easier it becomes for judges to understand and apply them.
Jacobsen: What types of allegations are prosecutors actually advancing in court to meet the legal threshold for war crimes—moving beyond generic references to the Geneva Conventions and demonstrating, through evidence, that a specific crime was committed?
Petrossian: It is essential to prove all the elements of the war crimes committed against victims—civilians or prisoners of war. Another major issue concerns command responsibility, a core aspect of the international criminal justice system. It is not only soldiers who commit crimes, but commanders who are responsible through omission.
Not only soldiers but commanders are also liable for crimes committed by their subordinates. Their role involves omission rather than commission. They are responsible when they do not prevent, stop, or punish crimes committed by their troops. This is new for many Ukrainian judges and prosecutors: how to apply command responsibility and connect a commander’s omission with an international crime committed by a subordinate. This connection is crucial.
Unfortunately, it is not an easy task. Prosecutors must establish all elements and the logical chain between the crime itself and the commander’s omission. At the international level, we have already seen a failure on this issue: the Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo case. Bemba, the former vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was accused based on his role as a commander—specifically, for failing to prevent, stop, or punish crimes committed by his subordinates in the Central African Republic. The ICC ultimately overturned his conviction. It is essential to learn from that failure and to bring evidence that clearly shows the link between the crime scene and the remote commander—whether in a command center or elsewhere. It is not an easy task.
Jacobsen: We have seen moments when international law has been enforced with real effect—Duterte’s case in the Philippines this year, for instance, is likely to reverberate for some time. Yet there are many situations in which arrest warrants are issued but never executed. With that tension in mind, could you offer an analogy that explains how international criminal law and universal jurisdiction operate across different contexts, particularly as they relate to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine? I’m looking for something from your experience that gives readers a fuller sense of how this system actually operates in practice.
Petrossian: The best scenario and the best analogy is Nuremberg. If we speak about aggression, that was the first—and, unfortunately, still the only—example in which the crime of aggression, then called “crimes against peace,” was punished. It is not an easy task to prosecute aggression, but we must distinguish between two things. One: Starting a war is already a crime. And two: during a war, certain acts are prohibited, which means the war produces additional violations of international law—war crimes, crimes against humanity, even genocide. So there are two levels: the war itself as a crime, and the crimes committed during the war.
As you mentioned, we have a positive example today from the Philippines, where the former head of state was arrested and transferred to the ICC—even though the Philippines withdrew from the ICC. But we also have depressing examples: the ICC being sanctioned by two major powers, the United States and Russia, because of the Israel–Gaza situation and the Russian–Ukrainian conflict. The ICC now faces substantial political pressure and influence.
But if we look at history, we also have good examples. In the Mali situation, we already have two judgments from the International Criminal Court. And we have hundreds of cases from the Syria and Iraq conflicts—prosecuted in Germany, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands—where different perpetrators, “small fish” and “middle fish,” have been convicted for various crimes, including genocide. One groundbreaking German case involved the Yazidi genocide; that was the first conviction of its kind. We also have crimes against humanity cases involving former Assad regime officials who tortured victims in detention facilities.
We also have war crimes cases involving former jihadists who travelled from Germany or Europe to Syria and Iraq and committed atrocities such as sexual slavery and the recruitment of children into armed groups. These are the smaller, incremental steps. And we must remember that the system of international criminal justice we have today is relatively new. The International Criminal Court has existed for only 25 years and was built on the experience of the ICTY and ICTR—institutions also created in the post–Second World War era.
So we are making small steps. It is developing. The path is not easy because, as mentioned, it faces political influence and pressure from countries that do not wish to engage with international criminal justice. But after the Second World War, the international community showed that there is no alternative to conflict resolution if we cannot sit down and determine who the perpetrators were, which international crimes were committed, and how those perpetrators should be punished.
Jacobsen: This war has now stretched nearly four years as a full-scale invasion—and more than eleven if we include the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in parts of Donbas. That span has given Ukraine time to train a new generation of judges and lawyers, many of whom you’ve worked with directly and influenced at the ground level.
For those who hope to enter the legal field—or become judges—and want to focus specifically on these issues, which areas of law should they be training in? Every graduate student eventually specializes, and for those concerned with implementing international law in cases involving aggression or other grave crimes, there are increasingly complex situations to consider.
Vrinda Grover, a Commissioner for the Commission on Ukraine, recently described short-range drones striking civilians across a roughly 300-kilometre stretch along the left bank of the Dnipro River, classifying such incidents as a war crime of killing civilians. Examples like this raise important questions about specialization. For aspiring legal practitioners motivated by this war to pursue justice-oriented work, where should their focus lie?
Petrossian: That is a fundamental question. For the judges of Ukraine, there is no significant difference in their formal roles. The Ukrainian legal system assigns criminal or state-security cases to judges, who receive them daily as prosecutors bring them forward. The key issue is ensuring that judges understand how international justice works—what comes from the ICC, ad hoc tribunals, and hybrid courts —and how different states address these cases at the national level.
Now I understand. Mainly for the students, yes. One of the essential fields is international humanitarian law—understanding what it regulates, what is protected and what is not, whether a situation falls under an international or non-international armed conflict, and how to differentiate between them.
Another aspect is international human rights law, because when a perpetrator—or alleged perpetrator—appears before a court, it does not mean the person is already guilty. That person also has rights: to defend himself, to present evidence, and to avoid self-incrimination. If we want a fair trial, we need to respect the rights of the accused.
And the third is, of course, international criminal justice—understanding how it developed, what its primary purpose is, and what was tried in Nuremberg. The Nuremberg Judgment is not only the main trial against the chief perpetrators but also twelve additional trials that examined different fields and groups of perpetrators involved in the broader system of international crimes. We have the Doctors’ Trial, we have the Industrialists’ Trial, and many others. These cases are relevant for Ukraine as well. We should not forget that many Russian companies are assisting the war, and through aiding and abetting, they may have made themselves criminally liable. There are many historical analogies we can apply today.
We see different professions involved. We also see lawyers in Russia prosecuting Ukrainians who are fighting against Russia or prosecuting Russian dissidents. For example, if a military court issues convictions based on false accusations, it can also constitute a war crime. How do we target those judges, prosecutors, industrialists, commanders, and even ministries? These issues were already discussed here in Nuremberg.
Of course, we must understand the experience on the ground in modern situations—in Yugoslavia, in Kosovo, in the Central African Republic —where hybrid systems have already established distinct jurisprudence and developed an understanding of various international crimes. We have Cambodia, the ECCC, and national domestic jurisprudence. Another significant development is the Genocide Network within the EU Eurojust, a cooperation mechanism among prosecutors that strengthens international criminal justice on the Ukrainian side.
It is always valuable to understand these different fields of law, e.g., international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal justice, and, of course, international law in general: how it works and how the International Court of Justice can support national judges and prosecutors. All in all, these three main fields—humanitarian law, human rights law, and international criminal justice—together with the existing jurisprudence, form the foundation.
Jacobsen: There is a crucial difference between making an allegation and actually meeting the legal standard required to prove it. Even when a commission determines that a war crime has occurred, translating that finding into a prosecutable case—and then meeting the evidentiary threshold in court—remains a formidable barrier. In today’s media ecosystem, accusations can be quickly adopted for political ends, amplified by influential actors, and repeated as though a state has already been legally found to have committed a particular crime. With that dynamic in mind, I’d like to give you wide latitude here: where do you think media coverage of Russian aggression against Ukraine has overstepped, and what should journalists be watching for to maintain appropriate proportionality between the claims they report and the crimes actually being alleged?
Petrossian: That is a difficult question. As I already mentioned in the Bemba case at the ICC, as soon as there was an arrest warrant against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo—who was the vice president, a well-known figure in Africa and in the Democratic Republic of Congo—the media almost immediately declared him guilty. Everyone assumed he was guilty. But after ten years of proceedings, we found that he was not guilty because the legal standard was not met.
In media coverage, both globally and in conflict zones, we often hear that mass atrocities are being committed and that a particular head of state is a war criminal. But to prove that, as you correctly noted, we must reach the legal bar—and that bar is very high. A person alleged to be a war criminal also has the right to defend themselves.
That is the court’s task. The prosecutor must bring evidence that makes it crystal clear—beyond a reasonable doubt—that the person is guilty. That is the highest bar we have. If the evidence does not reach that bar, then the person is not guilty. This is the most challenging task for the prosecution: proving the case and collecting the necessary evidence.
In international crimes, as mentioned, this is not an easy task. You must prove that mass atrocities were committed, and that a specific accused individual forms one part of that larger pattern of large-scale violence against the population. One of the comparatively more straightforward tasks is proving a war crime, because a war crime is an incident committed within the framework—the chapeau—of an armed conflict. We have the Kenyatta case, the Ruto and Sang case, and the Gbagbo case involving the former president of Côte d’Ivoire. In all of these, the prosecution was unable to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is not an easy task. Of course, the media plays a significant role in maintaining the balance between criminal allegations and political allegations. That distinction is essential.
Jacobsen: In many ways—particularly in the age of social media—we are dealing with a kind of four-tiered information system. Social platforms create the first, unfiltered layer of reporting; journalism and traditional media form a second layer through fact-checking, analysis, and interpretation. A third tier emerges when political actors take those narratives and translate them into policy positions, often refracted through partisan framing. Only at the fourth and highest level do we reach legal determinations, where meeting the evidentiary standard for an international crime or war crime gives the global community a firmer basis for moral and legal judgment.
With that structure in mind, is there anything you think the media should be watching closely over the remainder of this quarter and into the first quarter of next year when it comes to this war in particular, bearing in mind that it is unfolding alongside numerous other ongoing conflicts?
Petrossian: Thanks to the media—and especially social media—we know what is happening in conflict zones. Without that, we are blind; we do not see what happens on the ground. We saw this in Sudan, where the internet was unavailable to the population for a long time. But the recent attack on the city in Darfur, and the crimes committed there on a large scale, showed the entire world what is actually happening on the ground and the cruelty involved.
But social media—especially with AI systems and digital evidence—poses another challenge for the judicial system: verifying evidence collected from platforms and the press. Journalists play a vital role in verifying this data. They are our eyes—the eyes of prosecutors and the general public—bringing awareness of what is happening in different situations.
But journalists must also be equipped to differentiate: What is a crime against humanity? What is a war crime? Is it a war crime at all? It is not always crystal clear that a war crime has been committed during an armed conflict. Different rules and principles must be applied in proceedings to determine whether, for example, a hospital being bombed or a civilian object being struck is indeed a war crime. From a first impression, it appears to be a war crime, but legally speaking, many factors must be proven and discussed before determining whether it was or was not a war crime.
Understanding what constitutes mass-scale violence against a population—and what elevates it to an international crime—is crucial. Journalists are another important frontline in distinguishing what exactly is happening and where such allegations should be addressed: before the ICC, before national courts, or before independent fact-finding missions.
Digital evidence can make prosecutors’ work easier, but it also makes it more difficult to prove cases in court because of the high threshold required in the criminal justice system. For example, I receive many videos of atrocities in Telegram channels. As an expert in the field, it is sometimes easy to distinguish and understand what is happening. Still, for a random person, the video can be misleading or emotionally manipulative.
For a prosecutor, it is not enough to watch a video and use it as evidence. The prosecutor must verify the metadata behind the digital material: where it was taken, when it was taken, and under what circumstances. A video clip may last two or three seconds, but those seconds can be crucial in proving something in a criminal case. It can be geolocated. We can determine the exact time it was filmed. From uniforms, we can determine who was present at the conflict zone. This helps significantly.
But it also makes the prosecutor’s job more difficult because the defence can challenge everything—and that is what makes a trial fair. The defence has the opportunity to challenge all evidence.
Jacobsen: Gurgen, thank you very much for your time today.
Petrossian: Thank you very much.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/30
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Irina Tsukerman on Pakistan’s emergence as an intermediary in U.S.-Iran tensions, the strategic overlap of diplomacy and business, the limits of the Gaza ceasefire, Vatican criticism of war, Ukraine’s fragile Easter truce, and shifting U.S. support for Kyiv. Tsukerman argues that ceasefires without enforcement mechanisms or political clarity rarely resolve underlying conflicts, and that Pakistan’s role reflects overlapping pressures from Washington, Beijing, Riyadh, and Tehran, as well as regional instability.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your big grand theory as to why Pakistan, of all countries, as the peace-negotiation instigator, makes sense between Iran, Israel, and the United States?
Irina Tsukerman: Okay, so essentially, first of all, a little bit of background: over the past year and a half, Pakistan has been rising in terms of its geopolitical visibility. First, it concluded a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia, which significantly strengthened an already close security relationship and later led to Pakistani fighter jets being sent to Saudi Arabia to bolster the kingdom’s defences. That does not mean Pakistan suddenly became indispensable to Saudi Arabia in every operational sense, but it did align Pakistan more closely with a major Middle Eastern actor and bring it further into the region’s strategic orbit.
Second, Pakistan has used the current crisis to host and convene talks with regional actors, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Islamabad hosted talks with those countries in late March 2026 as part of its effort to broker an end to the Iran war, with discussion focused in part on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. That is a firmer way of putting the point than suggesting a settled bloc or a fully developed ideological axis.
Pakistan also joined Trump’s “Board of Peace” on Gaza. The more precise formulation is that Pakistan was invited to join the Board of Peace and that Pakistani officials later sought clarity from Washington about possible participation in a future Gaza stabilization force, rather than having already committed troops.
As for why Pakistan entered the Iran diplomacy, the clearest fact is that Pakistan emerged as a mediator and host for talks between the United States and Iran. Pakistan helped secure the two-week ceasefire announced on April 7, 2026, and then hosted high-level U.S.–Iran talks in Islamabad that later failed to produce a permanent agreement. The premise that Pakistan served as a diplomatic channel is supported.
It is also fair to say that Pakistan had caught Trump’s attention for reasons that were not purely strategic in the classical sense. On the official side, Washington had signalled interest in cooperation with Pakistan on critical minerals and hydrocarbons. On the commercial side, Pakistan announced a memorandum of understanding with an affiliate of Trump-linked crypto ventures to explore the use of a dollar-linked stablecoin. That provides a factual basis for saying that business considerations and statecraft were overlapping.
The crypto piece should be stated more carefully. Reporting has described a Pakistani crypto promoter helping build relationships with Trump-aligned figures during this period. That captures the dynamic without overstating what can be directly verified.
So a more accurate conclusion is that much of this has been business as much as geopolitics, and access politics as much as formal diplomacy. Pakistan strengthened ties with Saudi Arabia, inserted itself into Gaza-related diplomacy, hosted regional talks with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, and developed links to Trump-affiliated investment and crypto circles. In that sense, Pakistan’s rise as an intermediary was not entirely random, even if it appeared unusual.
The final point also needs nuance. It is not accurate to say Pakistan did not volunteer and was pushed into the role. Public reporting shows both Pakistani initiative and U.S. encouragement. Pakistan itself sought a two-week ceasefire and appealed to both sides, while Trump publicly tied the ceasefire to conversations with Pakistan’s leadership. So Pakistan was not merely a passive deus ex machina; it was an active intermediary whose role also suited Trump’s need for an off-ramp.
He could not simply say, “Okay, we are done here,” because that would not have been credible after such escalatory rhetoric. What is well supported is that Pakistan proposed or facilitated a two-week ceasefire, that Trump agreed to suspend bombing for that period, and that subsequent talks in Islamabad failed to convert that pause into a lasting settlement.
So it is very clear that Iran was happy with a delay, politically and militarily. Iran did not initiate any of this, and Pakistan did not initiate it on its own for just any reason. This appears to have been part of an ongoing Trump operation in the background. Essentially, Trump was looking to use an actor who was politically convenient for multiple parties in the situation. Pakistan fits that description better than most alternatives because it has, in fact, become an active intermediary in the crisis and has hosted talks related to the war.
Also, the way Trump tends to deal with new and exciting allies—new and exciting in terms of his personal assessment, not necessarily in terms of long-term U.S. interests—is that, on the one hand, he boosts their international standing, but, on the other hand, he demands visible compliance with his preferences, no matter how erratic they may be. In this case, it is almost like an organized crime family test: we give you a great deal, but we also expect a great deal in return, in terms of fealty and a demonstration of dedication to our camp. I think this was a very good example of how that works in practice. That interpretive frame is, of course, an inference, but it does fit the public pattern in which Pakistan gained diplomatic visibility while also being pressed into a higher-profile mediating role.
So, of course, the Pakistani defence minister then responded with a sharply anti-Israel public message, which seems to have helped wake Israel up to the fact that Pakistan may not be the harmless Abraham Accords-adjacent country some may have imagined. Still, Pakistanis and other South Asian officials often communicate in bombastic tones while remaining pragmatic about where they actually stand. That part is more a political reading than a settled fact, but it matches the broader pattern of Pakistan trying to preserve room to manoeuvre among competing camps.
In that sense, Pakistan has a clear advantage in mediating. China also benefits from the arrangement, as Pakistan remains Beijing’s closest regional partner and often serves as a useful proxy for Chinese interests. Reuters has reported Chinese support for diplomacy and peace initiatives involving Pakistan, but the stronger claim is that China benefited from Pakistan’s role, not that Beijing necessarily micromanaged the mediation behind the scenes.
What is more certain is this: Pakistan abstained on the Bahrain-backed U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at protecting commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while China and Russia vetoed it. That much is established. It is also true that Pakistan is tied closely to Saudi Arabia through a mutual defence pact and has recently sent fighter jets and support assets to the kingdom under that pact. So the awkwardness is real: Pakistan is Saudi Arabia’s defence partner, a beneficiary of Gulf support, and at the same time closely tied to China while also maintaining a complicated relationship with Iran.
I have not found a reliable source confirming the specific claim that the Pakistani prime minister spoke with Mohammed bin Salman that same day and was “explaining himself” over the abstention, so that part should be softened rather than stated as fact. The safer formulation is that Pakistan’s abstention underscored how uncomfortable its position had become. Islamabad was plainly trying to avoid a direct break with Beijing or Tehran while also avoiding a rupture with Riyadh, the Gulf states more broadly, and Washington. That is the real story: Pakistan is trying to please multiple parties whose interests overlap in some places and diverge sharply in others.
Jacobsen: Allegedly, there has been a marking of six months of a ceasefire in Gaza. Some at AP are noting that this could be seen as a way to offer lessons for the Iran war. Obviously, it is unusual for them to editorialize. The United States and Iran are preparing for high-level talks while Israel and Hezbollah are trading more fire. I love the euphemism of “trading.” It is a very common euphemism. And the Pope has criticized the Iran war, saying, quote, “God does not bless any conflict.” So we are just going to ignore the war in heaven and the Crusades and continue to a more serious conversation. So what are your thoughts on the commentary around Gaza, Iran, Israel, the United States, Hezbollah, naturally, and the Pope’s statements?
Tsukerman: The Hamas ceasefire in Gaza is hardly a model for anything. It did not achieve the stated goals of removing Hamas from power, ensuring disarmament, or preventing future attacks on Israel from an offensive standpoint. Instead, Hamas has retained or rebuilt substantial influence. Opposition groups that were anti-Hamas have either been weakened or marginalized. AP reported that core parts of the ceasefire remain unfulfilled, including disarming Hamas, deploying international stabilization forces, and beginning reconstruction in any serious way.
Hamas rejected the Board of Peace’s disarmament proposal, and there is no clear path to enforcement. The Indonesian, Pakistani, and other proposed peacekeeping contingents that were expected to enter the territory have not been described in credible reporting as forces with a mandate or capacity to disarm Hamas. The more accurate version is that, even if such forces were deployed, they would primarily serve stabilization and monitoring rather than coercive disarmament. That makes the arrangement look more like a peacekeeping buffer than a mechanism for actually changing the balance of power on the ground. (apnews.com)
Meanwhile, Hamas has had every incentive to wait things out and quietly preserve or strengthen its bureaucratic and political influence while Israel and everyone else are distracted by Iran and the ensuing negotiations. So if this is meant to serve as a model for Iran, it is hardly an encouraging one. It certainly does not change the regime in Iran, does not make life better for Iranians, and does not make Israel or anyone else in the region meaningfully safer. That is partly analysis, but it follows from the fact that the Gaza ceasefire has frozen rather than resolved the underlying conflict. (apnews.com)
Because if you have a radicalized regime or armed movement next door, it is only a matter of time before it rebuilds its networks, reasserts itself, and restarts hostilities unless the core political and military issues are resolved. And we are seeing that, despite the ceasefire agreement, the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted, attacks on various countries have continued, and Hezbollah continues firing on Israel. Reuters reported ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah even as U.S.–Iran talks were being prepared, and also reported that shipping protection in Hormuz remained a live international issue.
Iran is also not budging much from its initial demands at the beginning of the talks. That is a fair summary of the current reporting, which indicates that the ceasefire created space for diplomacy but did not produce a substantive breakthrough.
Regarding the role of the Church, I am not especially surprised by the statement. First of all, this particular war was not framed as a purely defensive operation in the way some supporters described the earlier 12-day war, when the United States was more distant from the action until it launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and when the goals were presented more narrowly. Now Israel has articulated its goals, but the United States has vacillated in its own agenda. Trump first suggested intervention on behalf of protesters, then said military action would be about nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and later shifted again toward rhetoric about regime change before retreating to language about degrading Iran’s military capacity.
The Catholic Church does recognize the doctrine of just war, but it requires clear cause, right intention, proportionality, and a plausible connection between the means and the ends. Based on Trump’s own shifting actions and rhetoric, it is not clear that this was consistently presented as a pre-emptive action for either humanitarian or security reasons. Therefore, from the Vatican’s perspective, and from a Catholic moral perspective more broadly, without a clear articulation of purpose, it becomes difficult to describe such a war as just. It begins to look more like a contest for regional power. It may have tangential benefits for some actors, but if the just-war goals are not achieved and if much of the conflict is also entangled with oil routes, strategic leverage, and coercive signalling, it is not hard to see why the Vatican would refuse to bless it.
I am not shocked at this development, and neither should anyone else. The U.S. administration should probably know better than to enter into petty quarrels with the Vatican and alienate a large number of Catholic voters. That is an analytical judgment, of course, but it is grounded in the very public rupture between Trump and Pope Leo, which has become unusually sharp and visible.
Jacobsen: So now Putin declared his ceasefire—a 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter. Last Easter, it was unilateral, and then each side accused the other of breaking it. So there is not much mystery. I believe it is explicitly stated: Mr. Putin does not like Mr. Zelenskyy. Mr. Zelenskyy does not like Mr. Putin. But the point of a ceasefire need not be personal. It is about geopolitical realities, the civilian population, and mental health, really. So if last Easter saw both sides accusing each other of breaking the ceasefire, the likely consequence of this time’s declarations is another ceasefire violation. If it is even put into place over the next couple of days, that will be the postscript, essentially. Reuters reported that Putin announced a 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire on April 9, 2026, and that both sides later accused each other of violations. Reuters also reported that Zelenskyy had earlier proposed a ceasefire focused on halting attacks on energy infrastructure over Easter.
There is also a side comment around the idea that, well, the United States cannot help Ukraine anymore because it has used up all these munitions and money and national will for foreign wars, further with the Iran war, which is valid in vacuo. The United States has dropped humanitarian aid funding and military aid funding by 99%. So, essentially, it is either zero or almost zero, although some funding is still moving indirectly—through Europe, for instance, and then rerouted into purchases from American arms manufacturers. That is very different from an act of Congress.
So the idea that this Iran war is going to harm American support for Ukraine—I do not know if that is necessarily the case, because there is no longer major direct U.S. support in the older sense. There is still support in terms of logistics and intelligence, and Trump has threatened parts of that in recent weeks, not because of Iran, but because of Russia’s continued demands that Ukraine give up the Donbas, which Russia still cannot fully take by force and is no more likely to take now than a few years ago.
Tsukerman: At one point, the United States still was the top funder of the weapons going to Ukraine, and there is still that perception in the media and among average Americans. So that is what is being referred to. If there is any hope for a congressional push to authorize additional aid come November or January, the point is that the costs of these expenditures, along with unclear and unresolved additional conflicts, may make that harder because of the combination of Trumpian deception on the subject and additional costs incurred elsewhere. That is what is being referred to. It is not necessarily the case, but it is a plausible concern.
It is also possible that Democrats who are likely to come in may be more anti-war than their predecessors under the Biden administration in its first two years. So it may be that, in addition to all these pre-existing factors, an ideologically more anti-war Congress could, in general, be less willing to be helpful or involved in any military assistance to anybody. That last part is more projection than fact, but it does reflect a real debate within Democratic politics over future foreign military aid.
Jacobsen: And thoughts on the Easter ceasefire?
Tsukerman: This year, the Easter ceasefire was not purely unilateral in origin. It was proposed by Kyiv earlier in the week, and then Putin announced his own Orthodox Easter ceasefire. We will see how long it lasts. I am not optimistic because Russia is clearly looking for new ways to cause psychological damage and disruption. Whether Russia is fully up to that after a very aggressive air campaign over the last couple of weeks remains to be seen. It may also have been looking for its own way to regroup for a couple of days and catch a break.
Nothing will be substantially changed by less than two days of ceasefire in either direction. At best, it may be a very short tactical pause. But again, I am not optimistic about Russia keeping its end of the bargain, because I do not remember the last time it consistently did so. Reuters and AP both reported that the Orthodox Easter truce announced by Putin followed a prior Ukrainian proposal and that both sides then accused each other of violations, which supports the skepticism here.
Jacobsen: What are your thoughts on Mr. Mamdani’s first 100 days overall, in a minute and a half?
Tsukerman: I do not fully agree with the facts as stated there. The facts are not that popular support is falling dramatically. A recent Marist poll found that 48% of New Yorkers approved of Mamdani’s performance, 30% disapproved, and 23% were unsure, which suggests a mixed but not collapsing picture.
It is also not clearly established that businesses have been fleeing New York in some dramatic new way because of Mamdani’s first 100 days. Mamdani has continued to push transit and affordability initiatives, while critics argue that some campaign promises are being softened, delayed, or reworked.
So the more accurate way to put it is this: He has enthusiastic supporters, visible critics, and a governing record that is too early to reduce to either triumph or collapse. That is a more defensible summary than saying his support is falling dramatically or that New Yorkers have broadly rejected his agenda.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/01
Hanna Rassamakhina is a Ukrainian lawyer, attorney, and international humanitarian law expert serving as Head of the War and Justice Department at the Media Initiative for Human Rights. She leads trial monitoring on war crimes and national security cases, focusing on accountability for crimes committed during Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. A graduate of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, she has worked in human rights protection since 2014, including at the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Hanna Rassamakhina, Head of the War and Justice Department at the Media Initiative for Human Rights, about accountability in Ukraine’s war-crimes system. Rassamakhina distinguishes between Russian atrocities and the smaller number of alleged crimes by Ukrainian personnel, stresses the need for credible evidence and investigation, and argues that Ukrainian detention conditions for Russian prisoners generally comply with the Geneva Conventions. She also reflects on limited media attention to these proceedings.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Another challenging aspect is that war places people under strain. It is not entirely black and white. Internationally, moral authority is largely attributed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine. However, there are also crimes committed domestically.
What war crimes committed by Ukrainians concern you, and what is being done about them? There have been far more crimes committed by the Russian Federation and its armed forces under the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin. However, this question still merits consideration, even given the disparity in scale.
For example, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2023–2024, there were documented cases in which Ukrainian armed forces killed Russian prisoners of war. One report cited 26 cases, though the verified number is 25.
By comparison, Russian armed forces have committed over 300 killings of Ukrainian prisoners of war. This is the same category of crime, but on a very different scale. At the same time, these crimes by Ukrainian personnel did occur. Internally, what should be done in response to those cases as well?
Hanna Rassamakhina: We do not study this category of crimes, so I cannot speak definitively about the number or specific characteristics of such cases. I am aware that some of these cases are currently in court and that there are ongoing trials, but I do not have further details.
If we speak about Russian prisoners of war held in Ukraine, the situation, in my view, is clear. We can observe Russian prisoners of war who have been returned to Russia, including video evidence. At the same time, we can observe Ukrainian prisoners of war who have returned to Ukraine. Their physical condition differs significantly.
Russian prisoners of war appear to be in relatively good physical condition, while Ukrainian prisoners of war often appear severely weakened. This contrast is notable.
Detention facilities holding Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine are accessible to the International Committee of the Red Cross. These facilities are monitored, and, based on available observations, it can be said that the Geneva Conventions are being followed in these locations.
This reflects the difference in conditions for prisoners of war in Ukraine compared to those in Russia.
Jacobsen: What about crimes committed by Ukrainian military personnel against civilians? Do you mean crimes against Ukrainian civilians or Russian civilians in the Kursk region?
Rassamakhina: That is an important distinction. These are different situations with different legal contexts.
If we speak about the Kursk region, I have read several reports by Russian researchers concerning alleged crimes against civilians. In my view, many of these reports lack credibility.
For example, one described a case in which a civilian car was struck multiple times by drones, yet all occupants reportedly survived. Accounts like this raise serious questions about reliability.
If there were verified cases of murders, rapes, or torture, they would likely be documented more clearly. So far, I have not encountered cases that appear credible based on available evidence.
If we speak about Ukrainian civilians and crimes committed against them on Ukrainian territory by Ukrainian military personnel, I do not have sufficient information. There are likely some cases, and they should be investigated, but I cannot provide details.
Regarding the number of Ukrainian military personnel, if there is an army of 100,000 people, it is possible that some individuals will commit crimes. However, I do not have verified information about specific cases.
Jacobsen: What about cases in which a prosecutor, lawyer, or judge is found to be compromised in favor of the Russian Federation, not as a formal agent, but through benefits, money, or undue leniency? What happens in such cases?
Rassamakhina: As I have already mentioned, I am not aware of cases in which judges receive money in these proceedings, particularly because there is often no party available to provide such incentives. The accused are typically in Russia or deceased.
I am also not aware of cases in which Ukrainian defense lawyers communicate directly with accused Russian military personnel. From my experience and communication with lawyers involved in these cases, such contact does not occur. There are also safety considerations, and lawyers working within the state system of legal aid have no incentive to engage in such conduct.
In this context, the system, as it relates to these cases, appears largely free from corruption. I am not aware of such cases and find it difficult to imagine how they would occur under these conditions. The Russian Federation generally ignores these trials.
If you are referring to situations in which a judge appears unusually lenient toward Russian military personnel, I am not aware of such cases. Based on our monitoring experience, I cannot recall an example.
Sentences for convicted Russian military personnel tend to follow a consistent range, typically 10, 12, or 15 years of imprisonment. Among the approximately 150 sentences issued so far, most fall within this range.
Jacobsen: When the media covers war crimes and the judicial system in Ukraine, what do they tend to overemphasize, and what do they fail to report? What should they focus on?
Rassamakhina: One of the main organizations covering these trials is the Media Initiative for Human Rights. However, this topic is not currently a major focus in the broader media environment.
Some local media outlets report on it, but it is not a leading topic. If you review major Ukrainian outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda or NV (New Voice of Ukraine), you will find limited coverage of war crimes proceedings.
This topic tends to receive significant attention when major events occur, such as the atrocities uncovered after the liberation of Bucha or during the occupation of regions like Kherson. Outside of such moments, it is not a dominant theme in media coverage.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Hanna.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/29
Nataliya Plaksiyenko-Butyrska is a Ukrainian foreign-policy analyst and East Asia expert affiliated with the New Europe Center. She is the author of more than 100 analytical materials on international relations, especially the Asia-Pacific region, China’s rise, and Ukraine’s ties with Asian partners. Her background includes studies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, and universities in South Korea.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Nataliya Plaksiyenko-Butyrska examine the overlap between East Asian and Ukrainian democratic values, especially resistance to spheres of influence, respect for sovereignty, and the need for alliances among small and middle powers. They also discuss the weakening of global democratic cohesion, the importance of NATO-style cooperation, and the contrast between Ukraine’s wartime creativity and Russia’s greater capacity to scale military innovations.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In the case of China, if we look at nominal GDP, over time, the concept of a “superpower” becomes less clear. The meaning of the term weakens as power becomes more distributed. So there may be a time limit on what we mean by a superpower, and also a trend toward fragmentation.
Some political developments, including those in the United States, have introduced uncertainty and division into the international system, which can be advantageous for actors like Russia. We also see how global chokepoints, such as the Strait of Hormuz, can affect energy markets and create wider instability. What values in East Asia are similar to those in Ukraine?
Nataliya Plaksiyenko-Butyrska: First of all, democratic values. There are shared principles and common goals among democratic countries.
Another important point is that many of these countries are small or middle powers. For them, it is essential to live in a world where larger powers do not dominate them.
It is very important for many countries—both in Asia and in Europe—to oppose a world order in which a few major powers divide the world into spheres of influence. We cannot say that such a division has already happened, but there are clear tendencies in that direction.
At the same time, countries in East Asia, including ASEAN members, as well as European and Global South countries, have an interest in preventing such a system from emerging. There is still a chance to preserve a more balanced international order.
However, for countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and others, it is also important to maintain a degree of strategic autonomy. Even when they are democratic, they often prefer not to align with either side fully.
At the same time, when international organizations are not functioning effectively, it becomes more difficult for countries to coordinate and act collectively. This creates uncertainty and fragmentation in the global system.
That is why, from my point of view, it is very important to strengthen cooperation among democratic countries. A stronger coalition of democratic states could serve as a reference point for Asian democracies, Latin American countries, and others.
In terms of values, we are all looking for a world based on common rules—where both small and large countries have their rights respected. That is why it is very important now for democratic countries to work together to stop aggression and preserve this international order.
In some cases, European countries have shown that they can act collectively when they perceive a strong challenge. For example, they demonstrated unity in supporting Denmark regarding discussions around Greenland, and they have also shown support for Canada in maintaining sovereignty and stability.
These responses reflect broader goals and the willingness of democratic countries to coordinate when necessary. At the same time, in other regions, such as the Middle East and Europe, countries have sometimes taken more cautious or mixed positions, depending on their interests and strategic calculations.
Jacobsen: One broader point is that the modern world appears, in some respects, less democratic than it was twenty years ago. At the same time, many of the most stable, wealthy, and healthy societies are those built on democratic values—particularly systems that emphasize horizontal relationships, cooperation, and shared governance rather than strictly hierarchical structures.
Many countries remain broadly aligned with the United States but may distance themselves from specific conflicts, viewing them as not directly their own. This reflects the complexity of modern alliances and the asymmetrical nature of many contemporary conflicts.
Plaksiyenko-Butyrska: This also sends a signal to political leaders, including in the United States, about the importance of alliances. At times, there have been perceptions that alliances such as NATO are undervalued or treated as less important.
However, experiences like Afghanistan demonstrated that the United States does not act alone. Its leadership has been supported and reinforced by its allies. This is the nature of modern alliances—they are collective, not unilateral.
That is an important lesson for Ukraine as well. The strength of alliances depends on mutual respect and recognition of shared interests.
Jacobsen: Technologically, the Russian Federation inherited a large amount of Soviet-era military equipment. Ukraine, after independence and denuclearization—following agreements recognized internationally, including by Russia—entered the post-Soviet period with reduced military capacity.
By 2014, at the time of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, Ukraine’s military was relatively limited in size and readiness. Since then, especially after the full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has undergone a rapid transformation.
Today, Ukraine has one of the largest and most experienced military forces in Europe. Many of its soldiers came from civilian backgrounds—ordinary professions—and have adapted quickly. Ukraine has also advanced significantly in areas such as drone warfare, battlefield innovation, and modern military tactics, becoming a key example of 21st-century warfare adaptation.
The North Koreans coming in, the Chinese components being used, and even foreign nationals recruited or misled into fighting—many of these forces and methods still resemble 20th-century warfare rather than 21st-century tactics.
Some modern elements are widely used, such as GPS, mobile phones for coordination and surveillance, and drones for reconnaissance and strike capabilities. But the Ukrainians have gone much further in adapting modern warfare.
There also seems to be a difference in values. In Ukraine, every loss of life is treated as a tragedy, and that appears to influence military tactics. Russia, by contrast, has sustained very high casualty rates, with many losses attributed to drone warfare and artillery.
Ukrainian forces have increasingly used drones to target individual units. More recently, they have adapted reusable drone systems that can carry multiple payloads, deploy them, and return for reloading. This approach conserves both personnel and resources—two critical constraints in warfare.
By contrast, Russia relies on larger-scale expenditures of workforce and equipment, supported by significant state spending. So what is your assessment of the effectiveness of these authoritarian-aligned forces operating in Ukraine? There is a gap between the scale of their deployment and the effectiveness of their tactics.
Plaksiyenko-Butyrska: At the same time, you are right to point out that Ukraine has a strong advantage in creativity. Ukrainians have had to adapt very quickly, and this has been essential in resisting a much larger Russian army.
From the first days of the war, even when resources were limited, Ukrainians tried to create solutions—sometimes very simple ones—that could stop or slow Russian forces.
However, Ukraine also faces challenges. It is not always able to scale innovations quickly. There are issues related to bureaucracy and, at times, decision-making processes that slow down implementation.
Russia, on the other hand, is not always as innovative, but it is often faster at adopting and scaling ideas. It studies what works and then produces it in large quantities—for example, with drones.
So while Ukraine leads in innovation and adaptability, Russia often compensates with production speed and scale. This creates an ongoing dynamic in which both sides learn and adjust.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Nataliya.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/28
Dr. Anthony Trecek-King is an internationally active conductor, educator, and interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges choral and orchestral traditions, music technology, and cultural inquiry. Beginning as a cellist, he pursued dual studies in music and engineering before committing fully to a musical career, later integrating computational and technical expertise into creative practice. He has held academic appointments combining computer science and music, and has collaborated with elite ensembles such as the Netherlands Chamber Choir. His work spans six continents, emphasizing precision, emotional depth, and music as a vehicle for social reflection.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Dr. Anthony Trecek-King on where music moves from structure into art, why emotional communication matters more than technical perfection, and how performers internalize form to create meaning. Trecek-King argues that audiences seek human connection, not mechanical accuracy, and sees AI as a limited but useful assistant for idea generation, research, and artistic exploration. He maintains that live performance and human-made music will remain essential in an increasingly algorithmic age today globally.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There are the technical aspects to music, structure and all the elements of structure. At what point does that structure move from a technical, scientific framework of music into an art? What is the dividing line?
Dr. Anthony Trecek-King: Yes, that is a great question, because you are right. When I sit down to study a score, the first thing that I try to do is ask, ” What is the structure like? How is this thing put together? I look at it from a very high level, from the 10,000-foot view, and here are the general sections that exist in this piece of music.
Then I start to go into the granular level and look at the structure of each chord and the rhythm that goes with it. It is very technical, lots of writing things down, inscribing things, identifying motivic ideas and where they show up, even if they have been augmented, and so on.
Then you begin to lift yourself back out of it, and it is in that process of lifting yourself back out that the structure starts to disappear because it has been internalized. Then the real art-making happens.
That is an oversimplification of the process, because sometimes the piece itself dictates that you do not look at the structure first. Instead, you go after the emotional content, and by understanding the emotional journey you are on, the structure reveals itself.
So it really depends on the piece of music, as far as my process goes. Then, in rehearsals, as long as I have it clear, the people in front of me do not necessarily need another structural explanation. They need to understand what we are trying to communicate.
Ultimately, when people come to a performance, whether it is impromptu or highly formalized, they are not coming to hear the structure, the right notes, or the right rhythms. They are there to be moved. They want to have some emotional connection to what you are doing.
So it is more useful to talk to singers about that. Last night at MIT, when I was talking about these spirituals with the singers, I did not once mention any technical details. It was all about the emotion, where this music comes from, what we are trying to say with it, and why Tippett used it, what he was trying to do in that moment.
That is a much more powerful way to approach rehearsals, and it also yields much deeper results in performance.
Jacobsen: With the audience that is there, can you over-practice in the wrong way so that the technical mastery of the physical elements of performing does not connect with your emotion and becomes rote? For instance, there is a stereotype that many Asian pianists face: they do not want to be seen as playing robotically. Does this play out, on a more analytical note?
Trecek-King: That is a great question. It certainly does not with me, because I get bored easily.
It is not true that you can spend too much time on the technical side and never get to the other side. The reality is that the best performances are technically mastered, but also layer in emotion. You need both.
If you are emotionally giving your all and completely in it, mistakes are more easily forgiven, and people notice them less. But the idea is not to make mistakes.
There is no 100 percent score in a concert, ever. Some of the greatest of the greats have occasionally hit that, but generally it is more like 98 or 99. That one note was not perfectly in tune, but sometimes being slightly out of tune is exactly what you need in that moment to deliver the emotional impact.
Some people have a harder time with this approach and have to work a bit harder, particularly younger people, because they do not necessarily have the same emotional experiences as someone older. But that said, they can still do it if you teach them how.
That is the issue. We do not really teach that. School is often about solving the math problem, but not about asking why we are doing it or how it connects to feeling or meaning. We could be doing that more now; I don’t know. But it certainly was not the case when I was younger.
Jacobsen: It is really a point where life is richer after it is hard, yes? And how people experience “hard” differs.
We have a lot of very rich people making commentaries about the place of the arts and the power of “power,” meaning more computing, more energy, and more sophisticated algorithms around what we are calling artificial intelligence.
There are claims about copyright and about systems that vacuum up the internet to build weights for neural networks and deep learning models. Based on that, fine.
My question is: Does this change the role of the music artist in the time of artificial intelligence, particularly in terms of generativity? Or does it change the richness of the tools that music artists have to express themselves?
Trecek-King: The AI question, that is a good one.
I will say that people will always crave human connection and human-generated art. One way to guarantee that you have human-generated art is to go to a concert and watch somebody do it in front of you.
So that is not going to go away. In some ways, it may be amplified, and more people may begin to crave that. I was speaking with Chorus America this morning, and they found that people are flocking to join choirs. Audition rates are up.
There is something about that. Do we know why? No, I do not know. So this is me speculating as to the reason.
Jacobsen: Neither do I.
Trecek-King: So this is all my speculating as to the why.
Jacobsen: Well, you know what? Neither do I. That is fair. But what about experts? They may not know, but their not knowing is grounded in more knowledge.
Trecek-King: Yeah, that is fair. What I am seeing is that not all “unknowns” are the same. What I am seeing is that people are missing that human connection, and one way to get it is through a chorus that comes together.
The entry level is so low. You do not have to be able to play an instrument. You bring yourself in and get going. It is something that you have experienced.
That said, we have to be careful with AI and not let it take over completely. But there are tools within AI. I have leveraged AI to begin the thought process. That is where it can be good.
Even with programming politically, if you are an expert in an area, it is easier to use AI in that area. When I ask it a question about music, composers, and pieces, I can look at it and say, “You are completely wrong. I know you are wrong, and here is proof. I do not know where you came up with that information.”
So if musicians and experts are using it within their own domain, it can be useful to generate ideas, especially when you are stuck. But at some point, for me as an artist, as a composer, someone who has written and arranged music, I need to get away from it and not have anything cloud my internal processing for the creative process.
It is good for idea generation, but when it comes to the actual work, it gets in my way. It will produce something, and while it might be something I would not have produced, and that is good, I still want my own brain to do it, to formulate the ideas fully, then sit down and make it work from there.
I used it the other day while doing some graphic design. I fed something into ChatGPT and asked for feedback. It gave me feedback, and I thought, “That is interesting.” I did not have it produce anything, but it gave feedback. Then I iterated, fed it back in, and asked again. That back-and-forth, getting an unvarnished opinion, even though it is not human, was helpful.
But I would never use it to produce what I am trying to create. That is just in the graphics world. In music, I would use it even less. Maybe it would be helpful for formal analysis, like asking, “Is this balanced?” or “What do you think of this?” It might give you perspectives you do not see.
Jacobsen: Biological evolution is much slower than current technological evolution. So what is the trajectory of the eventual differentiation between what we term natural intelligence and what we term artificial intelligence?
Trecek-King: Boy. You are certainly getting me outside of my area.
Jacobsen: You are the computer science guy.
Trecek-King: Yes, but I am not a computer scientist in artificial intelligence. That is a great question, actually. We are the ones programming the AI, so at some point… I do not have an answer for this one. I am sorry. I need to think about that.
Jacobsen: A really powerful system, even with contemporary algorithms and weights, could produce convincing outputs and simulacra. A significant portion of the population would say, and some already do, that something was written by a person, meaning natural intelligence, when it was actually produced by artificial intelligence.
And so the line, in that case, is based on the ability to deceive without the intent to deceive on the part of the AI.
In some sense, we may never know. It comes up in the literature all the time. They talk about neural correlates, meaning we do not know what is inside the black box. We know what it is like to be a person; we have our qualia, the “redness” of red, the “anger” of anger, and so on, but we only have neural correlates to those.
We may get very high-fidelity readings of that, but it is still just a higher-resolution version of the same idea of neural correlates. So, in some sense, internal experience is a black box when directed at another person, and similarly with these systems. So, it is like an intersubjective contract that we are applying.
Do you see AI’s future as a reasonable assistive agent for people who have relevant experience?
Trecek-King: Yes, I definitely do. As I mentioned before, I absolutely use AI as an assistant, as long as I do not do all my work there. More people probably do more with it, but you should use the tools and resources available to you.
If you are not using them, or at least understanding how they can be useful, then you are probably leaving something on the table. AI is here; it is not going away. You could leverage it to amplify the work that you are already doing.
Just be careful not to have it produce all of your work because it is deficient, at least for now. It can help you get things started, evaluate what you are doing, and act as a research assistant.
That said, you definitely have to be careful with that, because it will make up sources, as some have found out. So you need depth of knowledge in the area and an understanding of what you are asking it to do. That way, it is easier to spot the mistakes it is making.
Jacobsen: Are any AI music programs producing decent music, some minimum bar of enjoyability?
Trecek-King: To be honest, I do not use them, so I have stayed away a little bit. But from what I have heard, yes, there is some baseline level of music.
If you want something in the background, it is great. If you want something quick and entertaining, you can do that. I do not know if you would want it at the forefront.
Jacobsen: It is white bread. It is saltine crackers.
Trecek-King: Exactly.
Jacobsen: Have you used AI to help search obscure or unconventional avenues, places where you could explore, presenting different types of music, things you might not otherwise think of?
Trecek-King: Yes, certainly. Right now, I am looking at choral and orchestral music written by composers who primarily lived or were born in South Africa, outside the traditional South African choral singing tradition.
Trecek-King: It is in an area where my doctorate did not provide me with any basis to know anything about, so I need somewhere to start. I have asked friends who are there to send me resources, and that is great, it is a good place to start, but I need more. It is not enough.
So I asked AI, and the very first thing it generated was interesting. It pointed me to a piece written for the Cape Town Philharmonic and chorus. I am not sure I will program it or use that piece, but it pointed me to a composer and an ensemble that I can now explore more deeply on my own.
Could I have found that on my own? Yes, but I had tried, and I did not find that piece. So here is AI providing something useful. Now, the second piece it gave me was not real. You look it up and realize it does not exist. It is hallucinating. But the first one was genuinely useful and a great avenue for further exploration.
Jacobsen: What is your favourite one-line from a piece of music?
Trecek-King: That is the question I hate the most. It is like asking for a favourite piece of music or what moves you the most. It is like picking your favourite child. I know parents may have one, but they will not admit it.
What comes to mind right now is My Lord, What a Morning, in Hall Johnson’s arrangement for a cappella chorus. It is a phenomenal piece of music. The text is: “My Lord, what a morning, when the stars begin to fall.”
It is sung so beautifully, “My Lord, what a morning, oh my Lord, what a morning, when the stars begin to fall.” I am paraphrasing, but that is the essence of it. It is such a beautiful piece, but it is about Revelation and the end of the world.
So you ask: how bad do things have to be for you to sing something so hopeful that you want the world to end? The complexity in that piece is profound. If you are enslaved, one way it all ends is that it ends for everyone. That is what you are hoping for, and you are singing about it joyfully.
It is such a powerful piece, created by a community of people in similar conditions, preserved and carried forward by those who heard it passed down, an ancestor who heard these songs from his grandfather and then put them into written form, carrying them into the 20th century.
Jacobsen: The only sentiment of equality is mutual, complete annihilation.
Trecek-King: That is it. But what a morning it would be.
Jacobsen: What a morning. Thank you very much for your time today. It was very nice to meet you.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/27
Mariia Klymyk is a Ukrainian journalist, war-crimes documenter, and human rights researcher at the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR). She serves as co-head of MIHR’s Department for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Families, where she leads work on Ukrainian prisoners of war and missing persons. Her work includes collecting testimonies about war crimes committed by the Russian Federation, researching places of detention in occupied Ukrainian territory and Russia, and producing investigations and analytical materials on captivity and disappearances. Klymyk joined MIHR in April 2022 and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Lviv Polytechnic National University.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Mariia Klymyk about the reliability of survivor testimony, trauma-informed interviewing, and the legal threshold for torture and ill-treatment. Klymyk explains that recurring accounts from former Ukrainian captives independently corroborate patterns of electroshock, beatings, starvation, sexual violence, medical neglect, and coerced confessions. She emphasizes survivor choice, emotional safety, and humane treatment during interviews, while arguing that Russia’s detention system systematically violates Geneva Convention standards for prisoners of war in captivity today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How reliable are survivor testimonies? How do you ensure higher reliability of survivor testimonies in sensitive areas related to torture and ill-treatment?
Mariia Klymyk: Can I ask, have you spoken with Ukrainian soldiers who were released from Russian captivity?
Jacobsen: Just today, actually.
Klymyk: When you speak with many of them, you understand that they are reliable. For many of them, it is difficult to understand how they survived those conditions and that treatment. But most of them, after returning from captivity and after being held in those places of detention for two or three years, and after rehabilitation, return to the battlefield.
The main goal after they return from captivity is to tell the world what was happening behind those walls and what was happening to their friends who are still in captivity.
Some information is difficult for them to share, especially if they experienced sexual abuse. Many of them do not want to speak about this. But they still try to explain what happened.
Of course, there are some cases where a person may not be fully reliable, as we have heard of situations in which individuals behaved badly toward other Ukrainians in captivity.
When people return from captivity, they go to the SBU and report what happened. So we have this information. Some people refused to return to Ukraine; we are aware of those cases. But most Ukrainians who return from captivity do everything they can. They speak with journalists, with the UN, with lawyers. They travel abroad to speak with the international community and testify about what happened to them, even when this causes them pain.
We have one member who survived the explosion in Olenivka. After Olenivka, he was transferred to Taganrog, where he was badly tortured. He was also almost raped. It was in Vienna, during meetings with diplomats, when he first spoke about the sexual violence. He was trembling as he talked about it. In the end, he said it is very hard to remember everything that happened to him.
It is hard for him to repeat this testimony day by day. It is traumatizing for him. But now he is in a safe place, and he wants every person in the world to know what the Russians are doing and what it is like to be in Russian captivity, because the war is still ongoing.
We all know what is happening in the world right now. Nobody can be sure this will not happen to them. So many of them, even though they are traumatized by surviving this, still speak. When you hear their stories, you do not question whether they are true, because every person describes the same torture and the same treatment.
I know that for some people, including representatives from other countries, it is hard to understand how this is possible, how people could survive such conditions. It is very difficult for them to comprehend.
Two days ago, I spoke with a Japanese journalist, and it was hard for him to understand how Russians can do this, how they can treat Ukrainians this way in the 21st century.
The world needs to understand that Russia is still operating with practices rooted in the Soviet Union. People may understand how others live, but they are influenced by very strong propaganda. For many people, it is difficult to understand how this can be true, how Russians can do this.
There are even reports that in the Kursk region, at a place of detention, there was a guillotine.
They used it, or they tried to use it against people. Sometimes testimony sounds unreal, but it is true.
If you ask people who were in the same place of detention, and you ask them, “Did you hear about electroshock?” or “Did you hear about the basement and what was happening there?” or about other things, all of them confirm not only that they heard about it, but that they experienced it themselves.
If you speak with people who were in captivity, you understand. It is hard to explain.
Jacobsen: When it comes to interviews with those who have been tortured and ill-treated, what are the best practices regarding trauma-informed interviewing?
Klymyk: First, you need to explain to the person that they can say no. You have to allow them to choose what to say and what not to say.
All these people lived for years in conditions where they did not have the opportunity to say no, because if they said no, they were tortured. So first, the person needs to understand that they have the right to choose.
When you conduct an interview, you should tell them they can choose where to sit, what to say, and whether to leave or refuse to answer a question. These are the main rules when speaking with former prisoners of war: you allow them to choose.
Sometimes they want someone to listen. If you ask questions and they do not answer as you expect, it is better to let them speak freely. When they speak, they relax. When they see that you are interested in what they are saying and that you are composed, it helps.
We have situations where they try to tell their stories, and the person listening starts crying. For them, it is very hard to endure those emotions. They need to see that you see them as human beings, because during captivity, they were not treated as human beings.
So it is important to treat them as human beings and give them a choice. It also helps to give them something to hold, like a small object or a piece of paper, because when they speak, they need to do something with their hands. They are nervous. If you can give them something simple to hold or play with, it can calm them and help them relax.
Jacobsen: What is the minimum threshold for something to be classified as torture or ill-treatment within international standards?
Klymyk: First of all, it is the places where they are held. In the Geneva Conventions, it is clearly stated that there must be camps for prisoners of war, not places used for criminals.
Russia does not do this. They do not create special camps for prisoners of war. Second, it is medical care, because they have to provide proper medical care, but in those places, they basically lack hospitals, medical staff, and even medications.
Another factor is the opportunity to communicate with the outside world. People in captivity have the right to speak with their relatives by phone or by letter. But Ukrainians do not have this opportunity. They may have this opportunity only if they are accused of crimes and sentenced. Those persons may have access to mail, but even that is problematic, as it violates international law to sentence soldiers for defending their country.
Most cases against Ukrainians are framed as terrorism or accusations of killing civilians, which is not true. We know that many of these testimonies and confessions were obtained after rape or torture. We document these cases and seek sanctions against judges and lawyers who participate in them.
But mostly it is torture, because Russia uses electroshock constantly. They use what we call a “tapik,” a special device, and they use it against women, older people, civilians, soldiers, and wounded soldiers.
After torture, they do not provide medical care. So the main issue is torture, because it is constant. Every day, people are beaten, and every day, people are subjected to electroshock. They are starved. They die of tuberculosis because Russia does not provide medical supplies and does not take them to hospitals.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Mariia.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/26
Oleksiy Shevchuk is a Ukrainian attorney, public spokesperson, and wartime legal advocate whose work spans bar self-governance, lobbying regulation, business protection, and international legal accountability. He serves as chair of the National Bar Association of Ukraine’s lobbying committee and as spokesperson for the National Bar Association of Ukraine. He is chairman of the board of the Ukrainian National Lobbyists Association, was appointed in January 2026 to the competition commission selecting SAPO leadership, and was admitted in March 2026 to Ukraine’s competition for nomination of a judge to the International Criminal Court. He also leads Diplomatic Legal Hub wartime support initiatives.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Oleksiy Shevchuk, a Ukrainian attorney and public spokesperson, about the Diplomatic Legal Hub, a nongovernmental initiative supporting foreign nationals, volunteers, journalists, embassies, and businesses affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Shevchuk explains the Hub’s pro bono legal work, documentation of war-related losses, diplomatic coordination, and assistance in gaps left by Ukraine’s legal aid system for foreigners. He also discusses compensation claims, the Register of Damage for Ukraine, veteran-informed support networks, and the longer-term role of international justice, especially the International Criminal Court, in securing accountability for affected people across wartime Ukraine today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Given the limits of universal jurisdiction and the scale of the war, how do you allocate resources to address as many cases as possible?
Oleksiy Shevchuk: Universal jurisdiction remains limited in practice and is applied primarily in certain European jurisdictions. We are familiar with its mechanisms and have professional contacts in this area, including those connected to international legal initiatives. However, our direct involvement in universal jurisdiction cases is limited.
We have supported at least one case involving a Ukrainian individual from the Donetsk region who sought legal recourse in Slovenia, where elements of universal jurisdiction may apply. Our role was to assist with documentation and case preparation. The relevant judicial authorities determine the final legal outcome.
In general, we focus our efforts on areas where we can have the most practical impact. At present, we are managing a small number of active cases—approximately five or six—which allows us to maintain effectiveness and provide proper attention to each case.
We anticipate increased cooperation with international organizations as the conflict continues. This may include greater engagement with institutions such as the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, particularly regarding evidence, documentation, and case support provided by NGOs.
More broadly, Ukraine continues to develop its institutional capacity in international legal processes. This includes participation in international judicial bodies, although administrative and procedural delays remain a challenge.
Jacobsen: How do you assess Ukraine’s engagement with international justice mechanisms, particularly the International Criminal Court?
Shevchuk: You can find public discussion in Ukrainian media about challenges in national selection processes for international judicial positions. Ukraine has been holding a competition to nominate candidates for roles at the International Criminal Court. I am among those participating in that process.
Ukraine has a relatively small pool of specialists with deep expertise in international criminal law and the International Criminal Court’s jurisprudence. This reflects the field’s technical and specialized nature.
From a legal perspective, I consider the International Criminal Court to be the most viable long-term mechanism for accountability. I am skeptical about the creation of ad hoc tribunals. Historically, such tribunals—whether in Tokyo or the former Yugoslavia—were established under very specific political conditions, often following a decisive end to conflict.
In the case of Ukraine, the war’s outcome remains uncertain. If the conflict evolves into a prolonged or frozen situation, the political conditions required to establish a new international tribunal may not materialize. Such tribunals typically depend on broad international agreement, which may be difficult to achieve.
As a result, I place greater emphasis on ongoing cases within the International Criminal Court. Investigations related to senior Russian military and political figures are progressing through established procedures. The Prosecutor of the Court, Karim Khan, continues to advance these cases through the investigative phase toward potential pre-trial proceedings.
It is important to remain realistic about enforcement. The Court lacks its own enforcement mechanism and relies on state cooperation. While arrest warrants have already been issued in certain cases, including those related to the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children, the likelihood of senior officials being detained depends on geopolitical developments.
At the same time, the International Criminal Court is often misunderstood as ineffective. In practice, it has produced a substantial body of cases, and a meaningful proportion proceed to formal judicial stages. Its role in documenting crimes, issuing warrants, and establishing legal records remains significant, even when enforcement is constrained.
Jacobsen: How should readers understand the effectiveness of international justice mechanisms and the broader legal context you are working within?
Shevchuk: One of the major challenges is public understanding. Many people are not well informed about how international legal institutions function. This is not only a problem in Ukraine but globally.
For example, recent cases have shown that international accountability mechanisms can operate effectively, even if they do not always receive sustained public attention. Proceedings can move forward quickly and, at times, with limited media coverage. This creates a perception that such institutions are inactive, when in fact they are functioning within their legal mandates.
It is reasonable to maintain measured confidence in international institutions such as the International Criminal Court. They are not perfect, but they can produce tangible legal outcomes.
At the same time, accountability depends heavily on political will. Within Europe and the broader international system, decisions on cooperation with the Court and on the enforcement of its judgments are influenced by political considerations. Whether individuals from the Russian Federation are ultimately brought before the Court will depend not only on legal processes but also on international alignment and priorities.
As for our work, the Diplomatic Legal Hub operates across multiple areas, including legal assistance, advocacy, and coordination with international partners.
In Ukraine, lobbying and advocacy are becoming more formalized as professional activities. I have been involved in these developments, including founding and leading initiatives related to legal advocacy and representation.
I also serve in a leadership and communications role within the Ukrainian National Bar Association and work with international legal and business networks. My focus is on providing legal assistance to international businesses and individuals affected by Russian aggression.
I have also worked in journalism, which informs how I communicate these issues publicly.
Regarding civil society, Ukraine has a wide range of organizations working on governance and anti-corruption. As in any country, there are debates about effectiveness, accountability, and the proper use of resources. It is important to evaluate such organizations based on evidence and measurable outcomes rather than generalizations.
Jacobsen: In the Ukrainian context, culturally and legally, what approaches are most effective in addressing corruption? What does the evidence suggest?
Shevchuk: Corruption remains an issue in Ukraine, but it is often discussed in overly broad or exaggerated terms. There have been significant reforms in recent years, particularly in public procurement, digital governance, and institutional oversight.
The most effective approaches tend to involve transparency measures, independent oversight bodies, and alignment with European legal standards. Continued reform, enforcement, and institutional development remain essential.
Jacobsen: How do internal debates about corruption and governance affect your work and priorities?
Shevchuk: Corruption is a sensitive and contested issue in Ukraine. There is ongoing tension between elected officials and anti-corruption institutions, particularly the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. Some members of parliament argue that enforcement pressure can discourage decision-making, while others stress that strong oversight is essential for accountability.
Public discourse plays a significant role. When corruption dominates the conversation continuously, it risks becoming the central narrative, regardless of broader context or comparative realities. It is important to assess Ukraine alongside other countries in the region, many of which have faced political instability and governance challenges. Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to implement reforms amid an active war.
The most important issue is practical. There is a clear gap in legal aid for foreign nationals in Ukraine, particularly in cases involving extradition, immigration, and cross-border legal matters.
This gap presents an opportunity for legislative development. Strengthening legal support for international citizens would improve coordination with partner countries and provide more consistent protections.
If this issue is highlighted in reporting and analysis, it can contribute to the development of new legal frameworks. I intend to draw on such work to shape proposals for improved legislation that addresses the needs of foreign nationals in Ukraine.
Jacobsen: What would you emphasize as the priority going forward?
Shevchuk: The priority is to expand legal protections and structured support for international citizens. This includes clearer procedures in extradition and immigration cases, as well as more consistent access to legal assistance.
At the same time, we will continue our core work—supporting international businesses and individuals affected by Russian aggression, coordinating with embassies, and contributing to institutional development.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Oleksiy.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/25
Melanie Trecek-King is a science educator, speaker, and writer focused on critical thinking, science literacy, and Misinformation. She is the creator of Thinking Is Power, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project, and a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Melanie Trecek-King about why she wrote A Field Guide to Spotting Misinformation and how years of teaching science to non-majors reshaped her mission. Trecek-King argues that people need evaluative skills, not just more facts, to navigate falsehoods online. Using examples such as creationism, Ed Graves, and Leon Festinger’s Seekers, she explains how identity, cognitive dissonance, and motivated reasoning sustain pseudoscience and science denial among many audiences in modern public life.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I will ask the cliché question: Why did you write the book?
Melanie Trecek-King: I wrote the book I wanted to read. I wrote it to help me understand the information environment. Do you want the longer answer? It is more interesting.
Jacobsen: Of course.
Trecek-King: I have spent the last couple of decades teaching in a college science classroom. I am a biologist, and I specialize in teaching non-majors, students who are not planning to become scientists but still need to take a science course.
I tried many ways to make the material useful and engaging. It was frustrating that I could not get them to care. I remember standing in front of the class teaching the cell cycle and cancer, explaining how cancer is a disruption in the cell cycle, and seeing that they were overwhelmed.
I realized that many of them would memorize the material, reproduce it on an exam, and then forget it, likely leaving with the same or greater dislike of science. More importantly, I realized that my students already had access to vast amounts of information through their phones. If they needed to know about prophase or proto-oncogenes, they could look them up instantly.
However, they were also one click away from Misinformation about cancer. What they needed was not more information; they needed the ability to understand and evaluate the information available to them.
That realization changed my teaching and ultimately led to the book. I wanted to help students understand what they are seeing and why, distinguish between reliable and unreliable information, misinformation, and find trustworthy sources when needed.
Too often, people use search engines to feed their confirmation bias, leading them to information that reinforces what they already believe. If the goal is to find reliable information, you need to understand how information works and how your own beliefs shape your interpretation.
I also recognized the importance of including Misinformation in teaching. Educators often avoid it and focus only on accurate information. However, Misinformation can be a powerful tool for learning how to evaluate evidence. If students do not engage with false or misleading claims in a structured environment, they may struggle to recognize them elsewhere.
Incorporating this approach made the material more engaging and useful. I realized that these skills are essential not just for students but for everyone navigating the modern information environment. That is why I wrote the book.
Jacobsen: What is a key story in the book where pseudoscience converges and creates significant negative impacts?
Trecek-King: In the book, I define pseudoscience and science denial as opposite sides of the same coin. Pseudoscience is the belief in something unsupported or unscientific, while science denial is the rejection of well-supported scientific evidence. They often occur together.
For example, I grew up as a young Earth creationist. That is pseudoscience; it lacks evidence and its core claims are not falsifiable. At the same time, I was denying science. Evolutionary theory is one of the most unifying frameworks in biology; it explains patterns across all life sciences. To reject it, I had to replace it with creationism. The two reinforced each other.
Many examples in the book follow this pattern. At their root, these beliefs often reflect what we want or do not want to believe. People adopt pseudoscience because they want something to be true, a miracle cure, or communication with deceased loved ones. Conversely, people deny science because they do not want certain conclusions to be true.
Avoiding both requires self-awareness. It means understanding our motivations. Some of the most dangerous cases, such as the Ed Graves story, involve identity-defining beliefs. These are tied to who we are, our communities, and our sense of meaning. Rejecting them can feel like losing part of oneself.
In my case, moving away from creationism meant distancing myself from a community that held values I no longer accepted, including misogyny. Realizing I was wrong was freeing, but it also meant losing those connections. That is a significant barrier for many people.
If I want readers to engage deeply with these ideas, at the level of identity, emotion, and worldview, I cannot confront their core beliefs directly. That would trigger defensiveness and shift focus to conclusions rather than process. Instead, I use examples that are historical, humorous, or culturally distant, cases people are unlikely to hold personally. This allows them to practice critical thinking skills without becoming defensive. I hope they will then apply those skills to their own beliefs.
Jacobsen: Many specific examples illustrate that pseudoscience and science denial are distinct yet overlapping phenomena that often reinforce each other. What motivates people to continue denying well-established scientific concepts or to persist in pseudoscientific beliefs? There may not be a single answer, but there are likely general principles people can follow.
Trecek-King: One of my favourite stories in the book speaks directly to this, and it is far less heavy than the Ed Graves example. Are you familiar with the work of Leon Festinger?
In the early 1950s, there was a woman named Dorothy Martin, a housewife who believed she was a psychic. She practiced automatic writing, claiming to receive messages which she wrote down. She initially believed she was communicating with her deceased father, and later with other entities. Eventually, she claimed to receive messages from “Sananda,” whom she identified as an extraterrestrial being from the planet Clarion and equated with Jesus.
Sananda instructed her to gather a group of followers, known as the Seekers, to receive and share these prophecies. According to the messages, the world would soon be destroyed by a catastrophic event, such as a flood or earthquake, but extraterrestrials would rescue the Seekers in a flying saucer.
This story attracted media attention. Leon Festinger, a social psychologist, became interested in what would happen when the prophecy failed. He and his colleagues infiltrated the group to observe their behaviour over time.
The group prepared for rescue, following specific instructions, such as removing metal objects they believed could interfere with the spacecraft. As the predicted date approached, members made significant sacrifices, including leaving jobs and distancing themselves from family, and fully committed to the belief that the world would end.
There were false alarms, including a prank phone call from someone claiming to be “Captain Video,” a reference to a contemporary television character, which the group did not recognize as a hoax. They continued to wait for rescue, adjusting explanations when predictions failed.
On December 21, the predicted date of destruction, the group gathered, expecting validation. When nothing happened, the mood shifted from excitement to confusion, then to distress. Members had invested deeply in the belief and faced the possibility of being wrong.
After several hours, Martin reported receiving a new message: their faith and dedication had saved the world from destruction. This reinterpretation allowed the group to maintain their beliefs despite the failed prediction.
This case became a foundational example of cognitive dissonance, the process by which individuals reconcile conflicting beliefs and evidence, often by reinterpreting reality to preserve their existing worldview.
Here is the key point. People often do not change their minds, especially when there are clear costs to maintaining a belief. Leon Festinger developed the theory of cognitive dissonance to explain the discomfort that arises when reality conflicts with what we believe or how we act.
In this case, the group resolved that tension through motivated reasoning. They used their reasoning abilities to justify their beliefs, constructing explanations that allowed them to remain “correct.” The strength of their commitment mattered. They had invested their reputations, relationships, and resources. They could not afford to be wrong. One follower, a college professor, reportedly expressed that he had sacrificed too much to accept being wrong.
Jacobsen: In journalistic work, I have noticed that you rarely convince someone immediately. Instead, you engage them in conversation. They reflect afterward, and over time, their views shift, sometimes significantly, but often incrementally. It is rarely instantaneous.
Trecek-King: It is rarely instantaneous. This story illustrates several important lessons. The more someone has invested in a belief, the harder it is for them to change their mind. The greater the personal stake, the more difficult it becomes to admit error.
This also has implications for how we engage with others. Being wrong in public is difficult and often humiliating. People need space to revise their views. Rather than mocking them, we should allow them the dignity to change their minds.
Another lesson is that persuasion is not primarily about facts. In science education, we often assume that disagreement results from a lack of information, so we provide more facts. However, as a former young Earth creationist, I know that facts alone would not have changed my mind. My beliefs were not grounded in evidence, even though I thought they were.
They were rooted in identity, emotion, and social belonging. When people hold false beliefs, simply presenting facts is often ineffective because the issue is not factual; it is the underlying motivations. If we want to help people revise their views, we must address those deeper factors rather than focusing only on surface-level arguments.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Melanie.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/24
Karel Bouley is a trailblazing LGBTQ broadcaster, entertainer, and activist. As half of the first openly gay duo in U.S. drive-time radio, he made history while shaping California law on LGBTQ wrongful death cases. Karel rose to prominence as the #1 talk show host on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and KGO AM 810 in San Francisco, later expanding to Free Speech TV and the Karel Cast podcast. His work spans journalism (HuffPost, The Advocate, Billboard), television (CNN, MSNBC), and the music industry. A voting member of NARAS, GALECA, and SAG-AFTRA, Karel now lives and creates in Las Vegas.
Karel Bouley and Scott Douglas Jacobsen examine anti-LGBTQ backlash across the United States and Europe, from Idaho bathroom restrictions to Leo Varadkar’s warning of a continental “chill wind.” They discuss Belarus, Finland, Pride in London’s leadership scandal, and the wider weakening of democratic culture. Against that backdrop, Jacobsen’s reporting from wartime Ukraine sharpens the contrast between manufactured culture wars and genuine existential threat, giving the conversation urgency, range, and unusual moral clarity.
Karel Bouley: No time to fear, Karel is near, because Showtime is here. So on with the show, let’s give it a go. Karel is the one you need to know. Now it’s Showtime!
It is time for This Gay Week with Scott Jacobsen and me. We are going to talk about stories from around the world, some funny, some alarming, all very, very gay, so do not go anywhere. We are going to discuss stories from around the globe that are of interest to the world in the realm of gay news. Can I start? I have to start with this. I did not send you the story, but I have to start with this, because I am sure even in Ukraine, by the way, we heard horrible things overnight about bombing in Ukraine. Are you and all of your friends there safe?
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I am safe. Most of my friends are safe, and we have had a lot of air-raid alarms lately. I have been walking around the city all day and getting nothing but air-raid alarms.
Bouley: So I want to start with this story, because I cannot reiterate enough how I do not care, but I find it ironic. We talked about it on my show. So our former Department of Homeland Security head, who is anti-drag, anti-trans, anti-gay, she is everything but anti-mame, and we found out this week that social media claims and alleged leaked images were circulating about her husband in drag and cross-dressing.
So, regarding Kristi Noem, social media posts claimed that her husband appeared in drag, wearing balloons, actual balloons, for his boobs, and one of the balloon ends was up here, and the other one was over here, so he had cockeyed boobies. And what? I am not going to kink-shame him if that is what he does for sexual pleasure; good for him.
But the irony that they all immediately started talking about, please send us thoughts and prayers, and all this other stuff, Scott. Kristi Noem wrote in her book that she shot a dog when she was younger. She also led DHS until March 24, 2026. And in Minnesota, we found out that many of the people arrested by ICE were not criminals, even though officials publicly emphasized that they were. But the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of needing thoughts and prayers was her husband allegedly being in bad drag.
So he does not need to be bothered; he needs a stylist. He could use some fashion sense. But it is an ironically sweet story, because here we have someone so anti-gay, so anti-trans, so anti-drag, and social media claims showed her husband on camera with giant boobs and red panties. You cannot make this up. Tell me they heard about this in Ukraine. I am hoping they heard about it worldwide.
Jacobsen: We were hearing explosions. Yes, real bombs. But that is common. Well, that is really common. We have prominent stories that are even more ironic. I remember there was that one case of an individual who was a leading figure in the conversion therapy movement, and he himself ended up turning out to be gay. This happens all the time.
Bouley: So let us start with a domestic story. Scott Jacobsen, from The Good Men Project and many other publications, is a respected journalist worldwide. If you actually read his stuff, you’ll see it’s everywhere, and he’s interviewed some incredible people. And me. I am the outlier. But let us start with a domestic story. You heard what happened in Idaho, correct?
Jacobsen: Correct.
Bouley: So the Idaho governor is expected to sign legislation aimed at restricting bathroom access for trans people, with potential criminal penalties. And I am not making that up. It is real. So I have a solution, a suggestion. I thought I would bounce it off you. What would you think if trans people started defecating in front of the bathroom?
Jacobsen: It would remind me of the Satanic Temple protests, where participants wore diapers and staged demonstrations to mock pro-life activists, including pouring milk on themselves.
Bouley: Let me ask you, in Ukraine, is there any bathroom controversy about trans people? Is it even on anyone’s radar?
Jacobsen: No. What they consider existential issues are more immediate.
Bouley: Right. I do not think anywhere else in the world anyone is worried about where trans people go to the bathroom, except here. So I have decided to counsel trans people to relieve themselves in front of the bathroom, because the fines and penalties for doing so are less severe than the potential penalties tied to restricted bathroom use.
So yes, it is not an issue elsewhere. And here in America, we seem preoccupied with where people are peeing. It is amazing to me.
And I want to know who the bathroom police are going to be, because the law says you cannot use a bathroom that does not match the sex you were assigned at birth. Who is going to enforce that? I know that, Scott, you have been to some very nice places, and when you go to the bathroom, there is a porter or attendant with cologne and hand towels who expects a tip, which I always wondered about because I did it all myself. But are they now going to have to check your body? Are you literally going to have to have a physical check before you go to the bathroom? And if you have already had surgery, how are they going to distinguish between bodies?
Jacobsen: I do not know what you heard, but there has been talk about expanded enforcement approaches in immigration contexts. Whether that extends to anything like what you are describing is unclear.
Bouley: And they are going to be called liquid, liquidized. We jest about this. It is third-world country nonsense. And it is remarkable to me that with everything going on in the United States right now, and compared to Ukraine, this is what the governor of Idaho, a state where education struggles, infrastructure struggles, people face food insecurity, and climate pressures are real, this is what he decides to focus on. But all right. Let us talk about more global issues. You pick. I have read them all, so go ahead.
Jacobsen: I want to start with the broader context. So Leo Varadkar, the former Taoiseach of Ireland. Now, why is he important to conservatives? Is he important?
Bouley: He is. Leo was the first openly gay Taoiseach of Ireland. And now we should explain what the Taoiseach is. I am mispronouncing it, but I am not Irish. So Ireland has a president. It was Michael D. Higgins, and the president is largely symbolic. They have a little legislative power, but not much. They live at Áras an Uachtaráin, where I have been. That is their White House, in the middle of a beautiful park in Dublin. They are more of a figurehead.
The de facto leader of the country is not the president. It is the Taoiseach. Leo was the first openly gay Taoiseach. That is why he is important, particularly in this conversation. But go ahead.
Jacobsen: Well, the big story around that is not a specific narrative, but the overall theme that there has been, quote, a chilling, unquote, of LGBTQ equality, essentially from Eastern Europe to Western Europe. That is going to guide a lot of conversation, not only this week but for some time to come. So that was a general commentary from someone who would be in a position to make synoptic judgments, essentially, in American terms, about the vibe within Eastern and Western Europe.
Bouley: Go ahead and say what he said about Trump and America. He said, “We are off the trolley, we have fallen.”
Jacobsen: It is not funny, but it is such an Irish phrasing.
Bouley: He basically said, That’s it, we have fallen off, we are a mess, is basically what he said.
Jacobsen: And so there is a lot of context in which the United States has lost the plot.
Bouley: Yes, we have lost the plot. Now, this is important for the reasons you state. First of all, he was the first gay Taoiseach. And I am hoping Pete Buttigieg will be the first gay U.S. president, because I would vote for him. He is a top. I can tell because of Chasten. But anyway, Leo has been in a unique position for some time, having already served. He is no longer the Taoiseach. There is a new one.
He already served, so he completed his term and attended the G7 and other world meetings. He was able to have all of these meetings with world leaders and discuss LGBTQ rights because he is gay. And it often came up. He, more than anyone, would be able to gauge the temperature of Europe, where it is going, where it is headed, and how countries are positioned on LGBTQ rights. And he is sounding an alarm.
He is saying it is sliding backwards all over Europe, from east to west, not just here, not just there, and we need to pay attention to this, because if we do not, it is going to get worse and worse and worse. And he does attribute in the article some of this to Trumpism and America losing the plot. It is frightening when you hear a world leader who is openly gay talk about how bad things are getting, because it has to be getting pretty thick and bad if he is issuing this warning.
So I do not know who the warning is for. Gay people know it is getting bad. Okay, we already get it. His warning is for world leaders and for those in government, because he wants people to pay closer attention to what is happening to LGBTQ rights. Gay people already know it. You do not have to tell us it is getting bad, whether we are in the UK, the USA, Canada, or wherever. You do not have to tell us that it is getting bad. His pronouncement, his warning, is more for world leaders, so they can be aware that these things are happening and put them on their radar.
But I do not know that his warning is going to be met with receptive ears, because the bellwether signs have been everywhere that gay rights are sliding backwards. His warning reinforces what we know. I am not sure his warning will get anyone to stop the slide.
Jacobsen: Yes, we have been seeing a lot of this. I am curious about a meta question, because over part of the last 20 years, according to Freedom House, we have seen a decline in democratic governance globally and an increase in autocratic governance. So there are two dimensions there. And they themselves distinguish between a strong democratic society and a weakly democratic society, and so on. I am curious whether that correlates in any robust, empirically validated way with the reduction in LGBTQ+ rights. My guess is.
Bouley: Did you see the story about social media users being less inclined to support democracy? This came out. Yes, particularly younger people who are on social media. They do not necessarily support democracy anymore, nor are they optimistic about it. Now, look, there was still an overwhelming number of people who do. It was 60-plus percent who believed in democracy and all that. But the story was about the alarming, rising number. Almost 40 percent of online users do not value democracy much. They do not see it as a valuable asset. They think its time has come and gone. And it is odd because when they did a follow-up question, well, then are you about autocracy? Are you about an oligarchy? A lot of them did not have an answer to the other form of government that they might, in fact, support. They were not for democracy.
And when one-third or more of young users online say democracy is not that important, it is frightening, because we know it is important. And we also know that democratic societies are how you get equality for gays, lesbians, women, minorities, and marginalized people. You do not get those in autocracies or oligarchies, as the United States will now attest.
So I do believe what you say, that it goes hand in hand, that as fewer people are gung ho about democracy, more people are also less gung ho about equality across the board for marginalized communities. I do not know why this shift is happening. No one can put a finger on it. Why are people all of a sudden souring on equal rights or souring on democracy? But in many ways, they are. And that is a sad fact of modern-day life.
Jacobsen: Was this an American study?
Bouley: Yes, it was.
Jacobsen: Okay, so two things are probably going on there. One, the American educational system is not strong, particularly in poor communities. And two, society has not been serving much younger people very well in the American context, compared to older generations, in terms of social infrastructure and so on. So if they are in a system that declares itself democratic and they feel disenfranchised, and they are relative to other generations, but they do not know much about other systems of government from within the educational system they have been given, then they can say, I do not believe in democracy because it has not been serving them well. But they do not know an alternative. And so they could not define an alternative, which I would call a drift toward autocracy.
Bouley: So the story is from Gallup, and it says social media use is linked to mixed views on democracy. Forty-four percent of heavy social media users, compared with 30 percent of non-users, believe in citizens having power. Support for democracy is 72 percent among non-users and 57 percent among heavy users, which means that 43 percent of heavy social media users are not strongly supportive of democracy. That is damn frightening, actually. That is one. And that goes hand in hand with what we are seeing in terms of equality. Next story. Next!
Jacobsen: So we were noting several weeks ago how Kazakhstan has, to some degree, been replicating Russian anti LGBTQ stances, with laws being proposed. Similarly, we see an export to Belarus, which, under Lukashenko, is also a close ally of the Russian Federation, the Kremlin, and Putin. Belarus decriminalized homosexuality in 1994 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it does not recognize same sex marriage and lacks protections for LGBTQ rights. Lukashenko has publicly mocked homosexuality. The country has about 9.5 million people. What else is going on here?
Bouley: By the way, do not mock gays if you are from a country that most people cannot even find on a map. Okay, you are from Belarus. Who the hell names a country Belarus? And you are going to mock the LGBTQ community. I am looking at a world map right now, and I would not even know where to look for Belarus, some little country over here in Europe. But 9 million people, it is the mouse that roared.
But yes, they are not gay friendly there. And it is odd because, I assume, the more eastern, the more likely Belarus is in the former Eastern Bloc.
Belarus is a former member of the Eastern Bloc. I can talk on this subject. Belarus is a former Eastern Bloc country, and historically, it has not been a great place for gays. There were some advances, and then reversals. And so we are at another reversal. Their parliament has passed a bill to further crack down on LGBTQ rights, which is not surprising. The Parliament of Belarus passed a bill on Thursday to introduce punishments for people who promote LGBTQ causes, echoing similar restrictions in neighbouring Russia.
What does promoting LGBTQ causes mean? Passing out flyers for a gay dance? What exactly does that mean? Advertising a gay bar? Is that promoting LGBT? So they always remain vague about what ‘promotion’ means in these legislative intimidation efforts.
Jacobsen: It is legislative intimidation.
Bouley: Yes. I believe the bill makes propaganda of homosexual relations, gender change, refusal to have children, and pedophilia punishable. That is amazing, because they group all of that into anything gay, even though gay does not mean pedophile. That is old. That is antiquated. If that were the case, then Donald Trump and half of his friends would be gay, because, well, the Epstein files and all.
Jacobsen: So you think they would be in jail before that?
Bouley: Well, no, they will never be in jail. The head of the Justice Department, after Pam Bondi left as attorney general, and the guy taking her place, announced that there would be no further interest in revisiting Bondi’s scheduled House deposition on the Epstein files. He said they wanted it out of the news cycle. So that is why he wanted it out of the news cycle.
Jacobsen: Yes, that is a different frame than saying we are looking for full accountability.
Bouley: They are not.
Jacobsen: They made that very clear.
Bouley: Yes, no, he made it clear they do not care about accountability. They have done all they want to do about the Epstein files, period. And that is it. And that is, of course, why he is getting the job.
So there we go. All right. Let us go for something fun, shall we? In London Pride, there have been some problems. UK Pride events have had some issues, and we have discussed them here. One of them did not pay the bills. Another one got taken over by another group because it was about to fold. So they have had a bunch of problems.
Well, now Christopher Joell-Deshields, who was the head of Pride in London, was dismissed after allegations of financial mismanagement, including using volunteer voucher funds on luxury goods such as high-end cologne.
Jacobsen: Now, if you ask me, not cologne, but perfume.
Bouley: That is true. Important footnote. Now, if you ask me as a gay man, that is a damn good use of gay pride funds to buy perfume. I do. It depends on what kind. It has to be something nice.
Jacobsen: What is your favourite perfume? What is your favourite cologne?
Bouley: Oh, now see, I am an 80s kid. So I like the old things, Lagerfeld and Drakkar Noir. And Cher has a fragrance that I love and adore. It is called Uninhibited by Cher. And then I also have one called Sung, S U N G. Very cheap, 30 bucks a bottle. Love it. It smells delicious. Kenneth Cole, I love Kenneth Cole. Polo by Ralph Lauren. So I love the classics from the 80s because they remind me of a certain time and a certain party and all that.
Most new colognes I do not like. I do like Cher. I like her fragrance. I saw one being promoted by Johnny Depp, but the last person in the world I would want to smell like is Johnny Depp because he always looks like he needs a shower. So I do not see why they have him. Maybe he has to cover up the stench. So it might have to be a very good cologne. But no. What about you? What is your favourite perfume?
My favourite perfumes are Joy by Jean Patou and Chanel No. 5, because my mother used to wear both. So if I smell Joy by Jean Patou or Chanel No. 5, it brings back memories of my mom. Joy is indeed the classic Jean Patou fragrance, not “Jean Coutu,” which is a Canadian pharmacy chain.
Jacobsen: I use a scent, put it in storage, forget its name, use that one until it is done, then go to the next. I have one here I can grab. But how many do you have?
Bouley: Oh, I have 14—a lot.
Jacobsen: Fourteen. Mine, when I was at the horse farm, I would switch among eight or nine.
Bouley: They are all above my mirror in the bathroom in a line. And each day I pick a different one. So today’s scent, by the way, was, oh, it is in the little body of a man. Jean Paul Gaultier. So today I am using Gaultier, and the bottle is a little man in a tank top, a little package, and everything. And to put it on, you have to grab him by the package. The spray, I believe, should have been done by pressing his, what?
Bouley: So yes, the Pride in London boss, Christopher Joell-Deshields, was removed from his position after allegations that he misused volunteer voucher funds on luxury goods, including cologne. I did some research. There have been Pride organizers removed elsewhere over tax and reporting issues, and all that. But as far as this particular allegation goes, the cologne detail is what made this story so absurdly memorable.
Jacobsen: I love this story. I love this story. It is so silly, ridiculous, and flamboyantly non-serious that it is much better than many of the other stories, because many of the other stories we are dealing with are bills and laws being passed that, once in place, can take years to reverse, if they ever get reversed. And then you have however many thousands of people whose lives are made unpleasant.
Bouley: Now, a bigger part of the story for me was, and I am not saying people are not worth it, but his salary, which he had been paid, was £87,500 a year, which is roughly over $110,000 in U.S. dollars at current exchange rates. That seems like a lot for someone who runs a nonprofit with funding issues. And B, how much is the perfume? If you cannot afford it on that salary, why do you buy the perfume?
So the guy, Joell-Deshields, at Pride in London, who was making £87,500 a year for his job, allegedly spent £7,125 in sponsor-donated vouchers on two things, perfume and Apple products, specifically luxury cologne and Apple items, according to the directors. These were supposed to be vouchers for prizes and gifts for volunteers, as well as for various events and fundraisers. In a whistleblowing disclosure, volunteer directors claimed there was a culture of bullying. Following an independent investigation, Pride in London said it had decided to sack Joell-Deshields. He had been chief executive since 2022. He appealed the decision, but an independent panel upheld it. Pride in London, which has more than 800 volunteers and a small paid staff, said its interim chief, Rebecca Paisis, would be implementing a new governance structure to ensure Pride in London operates at the highest standards.
They, of course, will have theirs on July 4 because they do not celebrate Independence Day. It is a touchy subject in London.
The event costs about £1.3 million a year to run and relies on hundreds of volunteers on the day. Corporate sponsors fund it and receive support from the Mayor of London through a multi-year grant arrangement, which currently amounts to £125,000 per year for the main event, rather than £175,000 annually. They say this is very frustrating because it might cause others not to donate, thinking the organization is misappropriating their funds.
A High Court order in 2025 required Joell-Deshields to relinquish control of Pride in London property and systems, including accounts and digital access. He appeared back in court accused of contempt-related noncompliance with that order, which Pride in London’s lawyers argued was an attempt to frustrate the independent investigation. One of the disputes involved a company laptop that had not been returned. He argued that it had effectively replaced his damaged personal device during his work. So, he is saying that because his own computer was damaged in the line of work, they owed him a computer. They are saying no, if your personal computer is damaged while you are at work, that does not make the company laptop yours.
This is what I am saying. I am seeing someone who is frustrating. He is frustrating for all parties except himself. I saw the investigation put its hands on its hips and stomp its feet, so frustrated. It was.
So here is my favourite story of the day, because I do not have a clue what it means, which is always nice when you can be confounded by something. There is a Finnish MP, a member of parliament, who has been convicted for saying homosexuality is a developmental disorder. She is a Christian. Her name is Päivi Räsänen. She was fined €1,800. She is supported by the conservative U.S. legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom. What have we talked about? The U.S. is exporting its hatred.
Her case was decided by Finland’s Supreme Court, which in a 3 to 2 ruling found her guilty on one count related to republishing an old pamphlet, while upholding her acquittal on a separate Bible tweet. The court found the “developmental disorder” claim to be inaccurate and harmful. That prompted criticism from some right-wing ministers, who argued the ruling threatened free speech.
Her claim was first published in pamphlets in 2004, later reproduced on Facebook in 2019, and on her website the following year.
So, in a 3-2 vote, the Supreme Court on Thursday found her guilty of a crime for republishing the pamphlet on Facebook in 2019 and on her website in 2020. She was supported in her case by the U.S.-based conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, which has tried to use her case as an example of censorship in Europe. The group has also ramped up its international litigation and campaigning efforts in recent years, and it drew particular notice in the United States after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. So, as I told you, this is a direct example of an American organization meddling in Finnish politics to promote an anti-gay agenda. Now they are mad because the Finns were not having it.
It is funny. Dr. Laura and I had a conversation once. She came under attack because she said being gay was a biological error, and she got a lot of criticism for it, probably rightfully so, because we are not an error. When I had a conversation with Dr. Laura about this, I said you would not have gotten in as much trouble if you had said that being gay was a biological anomaly or a biological rarity.
When you say ‘error,’ you mean biology making a mistake. Gay people are not a mistake. But let us be real. Even with current polling, which shows about 9 percent overall and higher among younger adults, that is still statistically a minority. Even if you go with 10 percent, that is a minority. Ninety percent of humans are not gay, 10 percent are gay. So it is a biological anomaly. It is a phenomenon that occurs in nature. It happens in nature all the time, but it is not the norm. The majority pattern is heterosexuality. The minority would be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Even if you go with the younger cohort, it still leaves a clear majority who are not gay or lesbian.
Jacobsen: I will tell you a story. In 2024, there was an attack in Poltava, Ukraine. The figures I recall from mainstream reporting, after time to count the dead and injured, were about 55 killed and more than 300 injured. Poltava is not by Sumy, but on the way east in central Ukraine. Some friends and I, colleagues and journalists, were travelling toward Sumy when one of them literally got a call from their grandmother in Romania asking, “Did you hear about the attack in Poltava?” No. We talked for 15 seconds. It was okay. So we changed our plans, turned around, and got there about two or three hours later. Reuters was there. BBC News teams were there. Al Jazeera was there. We, as independent journalists, were there. Emergency responders, military, police, and civilians were outside. We were not allowed in because they were still clearing rubble and bodies.
So there had been a ceremony of some sort at a military educational institution, and a nearby medical facility was also hit. They were both struck by two Russian ballistic missiles that Ukrainian authorities identified as Iskander-type missiles. Several hundred meters out, windows were shattered, and glass was everywhere. What was striking was how eerie and normal it is when you are there. You realize that three hours earlier, almost 60 people had still been alive at a ceremony, and then many were killed, and many more were injured. The Al Jazeera team must have rushed its production, because they ended up filming my friend Remus and me, with me walking toward the camera in my press vest with a press plate. I had my combat helmet in my arm. So you could say I had an Al Jazeera credit by accident because they posted it on YouTube.
So if you hear a ballistic missile, it is very different. On my first day here, I was staying at a friend’s place a few stories up, and I had my noise-cancelling headphones on to sleep and get used to it again. Sometimes what you first notice is a flash of light and then, off in the distance, the impact or the air-defence response. Over time, you also start hearing anti-aircraft guns, and then you realize the Shaheds are coming. I remember being high enough up and far enough from some of the central districts of Kyiv that all you heard was something like a lawnmower in the sky.
Shaheds are not quiet. That is how they terrorize the public as well. If it is flying above your building, you hear the anti-air guns, then you hear the Shaheds explode. Sometimes you hear explosions in close succession, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So that happens.
Bouley: The most dangerous place I have ever been is South Central LA. This is why. I can tell the sound of someone firing a gun, and I know gunshots when I hear them. But I never, in my life, want to hear the things you have heard. I never want to know the difference between a ballistic missile and anti-aircraft fire. I never want to be in that area or under that situation, because it is horrifying.
It is humanity’s greatest failure that we use these weapons against each other.
Jacobsen: The biggest image I can give that is non-poetic and non-romanticized is that it is an anti-symphony. You go to a symphony to enjoy it. This is not that. You have this developmental trajectory with many of them: a bass beat, then higher harmonics, then a peak, then a denouement. Beethoven’s symphonies were famous for this.
Bouley: He is not gay, you all. He said “denouement,” for those of you that…
Jacobsen: That is right. The deaf joke about not hearing you was a Beethoven joke. He was deaf.
Bouley: I know. He composed while deaf, or at least while progressing toward it. He started learning acoustics through vibrations.
Jacobsen: Thank you—very clever person.
Bouley: They did not have hearing aids, so he was like, “I will lie on the piano.”
Jacobsen: So, what you will see here is that you get the air raid alarm on your phone. Then you hear it in the distance above the metro areas where the main sound carries from. I am quite near one right now. So you will hear it at 3 a.m., 5 a.m., whatever. Then, if there are ballistic missiles, you hear those. If there are anti-aircraft guns, you hear those, or anti-aircraft guns plus Shaheds exploding. Then the anti-aircraft guns fade out, and then the air raid alarms fade out. That is an anti-symphony. It is not something you go to or want to go to. It is not enjoyable, because you feel terror automatically. It is like listening to Trump speak. It sends a shiver down your spine, and you wish it would stop.
Bouley: So back to Finland, by the way. As I was explaining, while you were out checking on your neighbour being hauled away, she called it a developmental disorder. I was telling people that Dr. Laura, a famous conservative in America, once said on the station I was on that being gay was a biological error. What I told Laura was that I would have agreed with her if she had said it was a biological anomaly, because statistically, even with the newer numbers, 9 percent, 10 percent, or whatever, there are more straight people than gay people. So while it is prevalent in nature, it is not the predominant pattern. So to say it is an anomaly would be fine. To say it is an error means that nature made a mistake, and that is not fine. We are not a mistake; we are rare in nature. And if this woman wanted to point out that being gay is biologically different from being heterosexual, I would have no problem with that. But calling it a disorder, and a developmental disorder, no, because science and psychiatry have for decades countered that by saying it is not. It is not a developmental disorder. It is not a psychiatric disorder. So what she was saying wasn’t just hateful; it was scientifically wrong. That is why she got fined.
And unfortunately, we now have a country, the United States, that is sliding backwards into the logic of reparative therapy. You only repair something that is broken or disordered. So once again, in this country, there is a movement to look at being gay as something disordered and fixable, as opposed to it being a natural, normal state of being. So if you want to call it an anomaly, a biological rarity, whatever, that is one thing. I do not mind being rare. Shine bright like a diamond. But if you want to call it a disorder or an error, then we have a problem. And I applaud the Finnish court for its decision.
Bouley: And €1,800 for someone at that level and in that position is probably not a big deal anyway.
Jacobsen: No, but it is symbolic. That is what is most important. We talked about this before; at least there was a ruling in Kenya that we talked about, where the men actually went to jail after attacking gay people, because what used to happen was they would be convicted of the crime, but then the charges would effectively go nowhere in terms of punishment. In other words, yes, you beat up these people, but we are not going to put you in jail for it. So you are guilty, but you won’t get jail time. This time, they got jail time. It was not a lot, but at least it was something.
Bouley: The same here. If they were to fine American politicians every time they spewed something hateful against gays, Mexicans, Black people, whatever, some of them would be a lot less inclined to do it. If it rolls off your tongue freely and you realize it is not free, it will cost you; you will think twice about it. I bet, and what, I bet that Alliance Defending Freedom paid her fine.
Jacobsen: I would agree with the inference.
Bouley: Let us see, the Idaho thing scares me, along with the Supreme Court. So we did not talk about this, maybe we did last week, about the Supreme Court’s ruling on conversion therapy. I wanted to explain to people what the ruling did and did not mean, because there is a lot of misinformation out there. I am sure you read that the U.S. Supreme Court said Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy was unconstitutional. They struck down Colorado’s law as applied to speech-based talk therapy and remanded the case to the lower courts under a more speech-protective standard. They did not issue a blanket ruling on every state law everywhere, but the decision is a major precedent with broader implications.
What they did, and this is where people were missing the point of the news story, is that a Christian counsellor, Kaley Chiles, wanted to be able to counsel minor patients toward so-called reparative or conversion therapy verbally. She was not asking to use physical coercion or older abusive methods. She was challenging the restriction on talk therapy itself, arguing that Colorado was restricting what she could say to clients. The Supreme Court agreed that Colorado’s law, as applied to her speech-based counselling, raised a First Amendment problem. Major medical and psychological organizations, meanwhile, continue to regard conversion therapy as harmful.
So she sued and said, ” My freedom of speech with my patients is being infringed because you are telling me what I can and cannot talk about. I am not going to shock them. I am not going to tie them up. I am not going to put IVs in them. I want to talk to them. Although what she is saying has been deemed psychologically harmful by many professional organizations.
But she wanted the chance to do it. So the Court said that if you are going to be talking, if you are speaking to your patient, then you should be allowed to do that on any topic. So they said, ” Okay, we are striking down the part of the ban that says she cannot speak to her patients about reparative therapy. They did not strike down every conversion therapy ban everywhere, but they did hold that Colorado’s law could not be applied to bar her speech-based counselling in the way Colorado had argued. They said that a psychologist or counsellor could speak to patients about so-called reparative therapy and use verbal techniques, but the ruling was about speech and not about authorizing physical coercion or other abusive practices.
However, opponents are saying, well, verbal conversion therapy is psychological harm, so you are still saying she can harm her patients. The Supreme Court did not accept Colorado’s position on that point in this case. So, yes, it is a tricky case. I wanted to be clear about that, because there were a couple of big stories this week that were misinterpreted.
The other was the headline that the bullet from the alleged Charlie Kirk shooter does not match the gun. That is a misleading headline. If you read the reporting and the court discussion carefully, what they are saying is that the bullet fragments were too damaged to permit a conclusive ballistic match. So they cannot say, yes, this fragment came from that gun, but that is not the same thing as proving it came from some other gun or clearing the suspect. It means the fragment is too damaged for a definitive comparison.
It is like saying the DNA from a badly degraded ancient sample is too damaged to analyze properly. That is what happened. But the lawyer for Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter has said, well, you cannot match it to the gun. That is technically true in the narrow sense, but it is not the same as saying the gun was ruled out. They say they cannot guarantee the fragment came from any specific gun because the material is too damaged to test conclusively. So the headline was deceptive.
All right, Scott Jacobsen has been with us from Ukraine. I am Karel. All right, stay safe over there and avoid ballistic missiles. It is broadcasting from a completely different point of view, yours.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/23
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Irina Tsukerman examine Russian attacks on maternity facilities in Ukraine, the legal difficulty of proving intent in war crimes, and the broader demographic damage of war on Ukrainian society. They compare Ukraine’s collapsing birth rate with Russia’s internal social decline, then turn to the U.S.-Iran strategy, arguing tactical gains do not equal strategic victory. The interview closes with an analysis of Myanmar’s junta rule and renewed geopolitical pressures around Cuba and Venezuela today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, we can do some domestic for me currently and foreign for you, although domestic for your heritage. So UNFPA recently announced that, several times in March, particularly around the end, at least three, and by 28 March, the sixth total in 2026, a UNFPA-supported medical facility in Ukraine had been attacked. In the 28 March case, it was Odesa Maternity Hospital No. 5, and UNFPA also said that on 24 March, maternity facilities it supports at Ivano-Frankivsk Hospital were damaged.
It is, as per the very high legal standards on genocide claims, that the most difficult thing to prove is intent. So this is a message to all activists in the United States. And so the cards in this case of bombing these maternity hospitals are more serious.
I sat down with two representatives in their main office in downtown Kyiv. Basically, there are very disturbing patterns. Because we are talking about pregnant women, newborns, and new mothers. And in the Odesa case on 28 March, everyone was evacuated in time, and no injuries were reported.
The two who were killed were in Ivano-Frankivsk, for some reason. For those who do not know, that is not a big city. It is far from the frontline. Yet somehow two people were killed there. However, everyone at the perinatal centre remained alive and unharmed, even though the maternity hospital buildings were damaged.
So we cannot say it was deliberate or accidental. We can only stick with the evidence-based option; we do not know, or remain uncertain about, the specific question of intent. That was disturbing news. There has also been, in Ukraine, the signing of deals with Gulf states and related cooperation.
So, Ukraine has been signing defence cooperation agreements with Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, covering countermeasures against missiles and drones, the exchange of expertise, and technological collaboration.
And even if they did not necessarily have the best technology, Ukraine does have hard-earned operational experience in countering Shahed-type attacks. Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are now exploring a Ukrainian-designed interceptor drone as a cheaper way to counter Iranian drone attacks.
But this is a very adaptive field, where systems can be studied, modified, and reproduced quickly. And on the Russian side, the Geran line is indeed tied to Iranian Shahed designs: the Geran-II is widely identified as the Shahed-136 in Russian service.
So that is some of the big news from today. All very interesting.
So what are your thoughts? You certainly have more legal expertise than I do. Maybe you can give some commentary on the difficulty of proving intent at that scale. And then also your thoughts on the bombing, whether accidental or deliberate, of maternity care facilities. That is, for most people, a soft spot, like bombing a children’s hospital.
And also your thoughts on these technology deals involving Ukraine. Those are three key points.
Tsukerman: Okay, so proving intent may be difficult at the moment; it may be easier later on, when more information is available. The reason it is difficult to prove at the moment is that you do not have the full picture of what is going on. You do not have access to the communications of the officials planning the military operation. You do not have the full sequence of events, and you do not have the means to analyze the trajectory of the missiles and other weapons.
For instance, if something was blown off course, it is more likely an accident if it was heading for one site but, due to weather conditions, air defences, or some other incidental third-party intervention, it deviated and struck a civilian site. That could be classified as an accident or an unintentional act.
On the other hand, if the trajectory was consistent and clearly directed toward that general location, that is less likely to be accidental, or at least not outside the foreseeable consequences of firing in that direction.
There is also the question of AI, whether the decision-making process was guided by AI technologies, where the human element was introduced, and so on.
So many factors can go into determining intent. But much of the information that would be helpful for analysis is currently impossible to gather, especially shortly after an incident, when responses to ongoing attacks are still underway, and the situation is in the midst of kinetic escalation.
That is why gathering information and analyzing war crimes come later. That is why it takes so long. It can take years. That is also why government cooperation is incremental. You may not always be able to obtain all the evidence needed to prove intent, because the other side may not be cooperating and may be impossible to reach. Decision-makers, as well as soldiers on the ground, may be dead, unavailable, in their home country and inaccessible, may have fled under different identities, or may have taken steps to conceal communications and evidence of criminal intent.
Intent can sometimes be easy enough to establish, but very often, especially when the situation is unclear and there is the so-called fog of war, it may take time.
One more point: it may be useful to analyze patterns. If you examine multiple incidents of a particular type of civilian site being targeted, are the circumstances identical, or is there wide divergence in how they were attacked? If there is a consistent pattern of similar steps leading up to that type of attack, it is less likely to be accidental because it suggests that certain ballistic and operational considerations were taken into account.
If, on the other hand, the incidents differ significantly, and there are simultaneous strikes on both military and non-military sites, then it may appear more random or incidental.
Jacobsen: Outside of intent, maternity care facilities, in a broader conceptual sense, what difficulties do these raise regarding humanitarian law? Not just general social sentiment around newborns being killed or the vulnerability of women about to give birth, but the concept of maternity care facilities being bombed.
Tsukerman: It creates a threat to the very continuity of Ukrainian society. That threat is not only due to any genocidal intent on the part of the Russians; it is also the fact that, due to the increased threat to women and their children, there is a falling birth rate.
There has been a correlation observed that birth rates in Ukraine are declining, and one of the contributing factors is the number of attacks on women’s care facilities and childcare-related infrastructure, precisely because of that increased threat. And, of course, giving birth at home is also fraught with risk, both medically and in the context of ongoing hostilities.
So in general, the impact of these types of attacks is producing the opposite of a baby boom at the moment. People are less likely to want to have children right now because there is a significant risk involved.
So, whether or not the attacks on specific sites are intentional, the overall impact is to disrupt normal life. And even if those individual sites were not specifically targeted in every instance, the broader trajectory has been to create conditions in which continuity, whether reproductive, familial, or social, is much more difficult.
Jacobsen: That is absolutely true. From speaking with some of these professionals, I learned that they spend a lot of time studying this: the current best estimates place Ukraine’s total fertility rate at approximately 0.9. For Russia, it is not much higher.
So we get commentary from prominent figures who may be skilled in technology but offer poor social analysis. They take those numbers at face value and insert generalized narratives that do not account for different underlying factors.
So, taking Ukraine and Russia as a dual case example: in Ukraine, people are under sustained national pressure, especially in frontline areas, but also more broadly under daily threat. We had multiple air raid alarms today alone. Strikes have damaged maternity care facilities and hospitals. There is ongoing pressure for information and propaganda. Women are serving on the front lines. Women know that their friends’ children have been mobilized and, in some cases, killed, which contributes to demoralization around having children.
There is also the absence of fathers in many cases, in a society that remains relatively traditional. In a predominantly Christian cultural framework, there are still expectations about men as providers and women as primary caregivers. I am not making a value judgment; I am describing a prevailing social framework. All of these factors have disrupted the social, economic, and relational fabric of society.
So women are less inclined to have children under these conditions, though some might be willing to if conditions improved.
On the Russian side, there are different dynamics. There appears to be a reluctance to have children in an increasingly authoritarian environment, with pressures on civil liberties and media freedom. Based on international indices, such as those from Reporters Without Borders, Russia’s press freedom ranking declined significantly in recent years, reflecting broader structural constraints.
Across multiple indicators, including governance, economic conditions, and rights environments, these factors shape family planning decisions. In contexts where there is economic hardship and limited protections, women are often less inclined to have children.
So I do not think these are unfair assessments, and I do not mean them as judgments. What I am trying to emphasize is that we have two different systemic conditions, Ukraine under external military pressure and Russia under internal structural pressures, leading to similarly low birth rates. Simply noting a low birth rate without context does not explain much.
What are your thoughts?
Tsukerman: The fact is that there are many factors logistically preventing childbirth from being a possibility. There are serious infrastructure issues in large parts of the country. We mostly hear about Moscow, St. Petersburg, and a couple of other large cities. But in rural areas and peripheral parts of the country, it is extremely difficult to raise a family. That does not mean it does not happen.
There are also other factors, such as high rates of alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide, issues that interfere with normal family planning, as well as medical challenges and higher mortality rates at birth for both women and children.
All of these factors need to be taken into account. It is not just the issue of wanting to have children; it is also whether that is realistically possible given the social conditions.
The other issue is that, despite all the propaganda about patriotic reasons for having children, there are probably not just women but also men who do not want to have additional children. Many are away at war or have died. Some are depressed about their own lives and feel incapable of raising children or having more. Others do not share the mindset that having children is a duty simply because the government promotes it.
So I think the concerns of men about having larger families in Russia have not been properly explored. It is common to assume that women are the primary drivers of declining birth rates, but I think men are not particularly inclined either.
And yes, there have been changes in domestic violence laws, but if men strongly wanted to have children, permissive conditions alone would not necessarily translate into higher birth rates. It seems that men also do not wish to raise children in such an environment, for various reasons.
And again, people claim that Russia is a tolerable economic environment, and that may be true in some areas. The major cities are relatively privileged, but most of the country is not. So economic factors are also a concern. Even with government incentives for additional births, that may not be enough.
Jacobsen: Mr. Trump has proclaimed that U.S. military objectives in Iran are nearing completion. I assume that Iranian officials are declaring the opposite. But as we have discussed in prior sessions, this conflict is unusual in that, on the American side, administrative leadership messaging can be inconsistent, making absolutist claims, then revising them, sometimes in the opposite direction, creating an oscillatory pattern in public statements.
The Iranian side appears more reactive to this messaging, but also adopts a posture of strength while confronting what is widely considered the most powerful military in the region, and arguably globally.
If there are claims, if verified, of large-scale targeting involving thousands of targets by U.S. and Israeli forces, then those targeted land, air, and sea assets would likely be degraded to some extent, at least in the areas affected.
So what are your thoughts on this most recent declaration, and how does it fit into the broader pattern we are seeing from both sides?
Tsukerman: Look, if the U.S. and Israel, especially the U.S., because Israel largely did, had formulated their objectives from the beginning as degrading Iran’s military, targeting a defined number of sites, destroying a defined set of capabilities, and then adhering to that, I think the outcome would have been broadly acceptable. It would have been achievable, measurable, and ultimately achieved. Even if disappointing to some, it would not have been unreasonable to conclude that Iran, not a major military superpower to begin with, had been forced into a more inward-looking posture and would need years to rebuild, limiting its ability to act as an international threat in the near term.
That is not what happened, and it is still not what is happening. The problem is that the U.S. keeps changing its definition of even these narrow tactical aims. On the one hand, there have been relatively specific and limited military statements from officials, but broader, more expansive statements have emerged, redefining the scope. As a result, it is unclear where things stand.
To add to the complication, it is not clear whether the U.S. is providing fully accurate numbers regarding targets. For instance, claims that Iran has only half of its missile launchers remaining are difficult to verify. It is hard to determine whether such figures are precise or approximate. Even if broadly accurate, Iran could still retain enough capability to remain a threat.
Moreover, whatever the stated tactical aims, it is evident that Iran continues to pose a significant threat through asymmetric means. This includes actions directed at Israel and Gulf states, potential risks to U.S. bases, the use of maritime coercion tactics, and the continued operation of proxy networks that engage in conflict at various levels.
So even if it is accurate to say that U.S. military objectives are nearing completion, the idea of “victory” is not straightforward. Victory would imply that Iran is no longer capable of significantly disrupting international trade or energy flows, and that is not clearly the case.
If the objectives were narrowly defined, they should have been broader from the outset, or they need to be redefined now. While the U.S. may be succeeding tactically, it is unclear whether it is achieving a durable strategic outcome. If Iran can recover within a few years, then the result may be temporary mitigation rather than resolution.
There is also a financial dimension. Iran continues to benefit from multiple revenue streams, including oil-related income despite sanctions pressures, economic and military relationships with countries such as China and Russia, and various illicit networks that have not been fully disrupted. These factors contribute to its ability to sustain itself.
In addition, maritime activity in the Strait of Hormuz continues to generate leverage and revenue through coercive practices. So the question remains: can military objectives be considered achieved if the adversary retains the capacity to regenerate capabilities and sustain its operations?
There have also been statements suggesting that operations could conclude within weeks, with the possibility of returning if necessary. But it is not easy to re-engage once disengagement occurs. Once forces withdraw, the other side begins rebuilding, as seen in prior periods.
Finally, the nuclear issue remains unresolved. There have been discussions about removing enriched uranium from Iran, but there is no clear indication that this will occur. It is also unclear whether nuclear-related objectives are still part of ongoing operations or deferred to a later stage. Based on what is publicly known, that aspect has not yet been resolved.
Jacobsen: Myanmar’s parliament has elected the ruling general as president, effectively keeping the military in charge. So, from Bangkok, Min Aung Hlaing, the general, is now president. This follows the 2021 removal of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government. This was an election, but one organized by the military.
Opponents have said it was neither free nor fair, particularly as the civil war continues. China and Russia have supported the military administration, while many Western governments have imposed sanctions.
So this is straightforward but also serious. China and Russia supporting a military government is not surprising. Western sanctions are also not surprising. But with a civil war ongoing, and the military organizing an election that results in the general becoming president, it is also not surprising. But in terms of stability, is it good, even temporarily, to have the general in charge as president?
Tsukerman: Stability has been invoked in nearly every military dictatorship. What makes countries unstable is not the absence of a military ruler, but the use of authoritarian methods by those in power.
Yes, you can suppress crime and opposition, but that does not make a country more stable. It often makes it less stable because authoritarian leaders who lack exposure to criticism are more likely to overreach and apply coercive tactics internally and externally, thereby increasing instability.
In suppressing opposition, they often drive parts of society underground. That, in itself, creates instability. So I do not think military rule or generals in charge necessarily produce stability. In the long run, an authoritarian regime that is isolated from international engagement and internal criticism tends to become less stable.
Myanmar has been anything but stable in recent years. There are opposition groups and separatist movements. There is external involvement, including Chinese support to different actors, sometimes on multiple sides. There are border tensions between India and neighbouring countries.
So I do not think the military junta has stabilized the situation, especially under the current leadership. Perhaps in some contexts, military regimes might act more effectively, but in this case, it reflects poor governance, corruption, and a disconnect from both international norms and internal societal needs.
There is no broad coalition of actors contributing to governance, only a narrow set of external backers aligned with the regime’s methods. That does not create durable stability.
Jacobsen: So Russia is planning to send a second oil tanker to Cuba. An FBI team is arriving in Cuba to investigate the fatal shooting involving a U.S.-flagged speedboat. And Cuba is releasing 2,010 prisoners, which has been a longstanding issue under U.S. pressure. Busy Easter coming up.
What do you think about this kind of proxy contestation?
Tsukerman: I find it striking that, without resolving issues in Iran or achieving major change in Venezuela, the U.S. is becoming involved with yet another country.
In Venezuela, there have been reports that criminality is down, but that may reflect more effective repression rather than genuine improvement. It could include the suppression of both criminals and legitimate critics.
So I am not convinced that claims of stabilization in Venezuela are fully warranted. It requires more scrutiny. Another factor is that the Venezuelan government has been partially normalized diplomatically, despite maintaining core elements of its previous political approach. There has not been a substantial structural change beyond increased access to oil and certain political claims that may be overstated.
China has not withdrawn from the region. It is likely to remain involved. There are also reports of increasing tensions involving maritime and regional security issues.
Overall, I do not see a clear positive trajectory. The same may apply to Cuba. I do not think external actors are primarily motivated by democratic outcomes there.
For someone like Rubio, coming from a Cuban-American background, this raises additional questions. But in his current role, those questions are not being publicly emphasized.
This situation will not be resolved better than Venezuela, and it may create additional complications involving organized crime, foreign influence, and domestic governance challenges.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/22
Denys Sviatokum is a Ukrainian defence-sector coordinator and industry leader serving as Chairman of the Ukrainian Dual-Use Technology Cluster, an organization uniting more than 70 companies focused on defence and dual-use innovation. His work centers on connecting Ukrainian battlefield-tested technologies with international partners, facilitating integration, joint development, and scaling of operational solutions. In parallel, he serves as a Board Member of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine “Defence,” representing over 500 companies in the national defence industry. Through these roles, Sviatokum contributes to strengthening Ukraine’s industrial coordination, international collaboration, and technological resilience amid ongoing war conditions.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Denys Sviatokum, Chairman of the Ukrainian Dual-Use Technology Cluster, on how wartime necessity has accelerated defence-sector consolidation, startup culture, and rapid product iteration in Ukraine. Sviatokum explains that more than 70 companies collaborate across AI, cybersecurity, manufacturing, R&D, universities, and training, with battlefield validation driving contract awards. He notes that younger founders, especially from startup ecosystems, are reshaping a traditionally closed sector. He also warns that many firms may not survive economically after the war ends. The discussion explores sanctions, foreign partnerships, technological espionage, and the global spread of drone warfare under extreme pressure.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Tell me about the network of more than 70 businesses and companies. Why did you start this effort to integrate them? I have seen similar consolidation efforts elsewhere in Ukraine’s wartime innovation and media ecosystems, and they seem to be a recurring pattern.
Denys Sviatokum: My background is in enterprise networking. Connections and cooperation accelerate growth and create synergy. If we want to succeed, we need to consolidate resources, especially when they are limited. Many companies are working on similar problems, and that is not always efficient. If they are brought into a common system or organization, they can coordinate better. One company can focus on one area while another focuses on something complementary.
That is a more effective way to develop new activities. Our goal is to strengthen and protect the industry by making it more coordinated and more consolidated.
We work with different kinds of companies: digital platforms that support matchmaking, AI-related tools, cybersecurity companies that help protect facilities and systems, and manufacturing and R&D organizations. We also work with universities because they provide knowledge, research capacity, and expertise.
We are also trying to create educational centers, because training is part of the broader ecosystem. Ukraine has many engineers, and we support programs that help develop junior specialists and strengthen their potential. Our role is to act as a connector among different actors in this market.
We are part of larger ecosystems. This includes cooperation with the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance, which brings together clusters from different regions and industries, as well as with broader employer and industry associations that advocate for business interests and engagement with government. The role is largely one of coordination and representation.
Jacobsen: What difficulties do you encounter when bringing people together? Over time, what becomes easier when building and managing these networks?
Sviatokum: This is a sensitive area. Historically, defence companies have often been reluctant to share information. However, the reality has changed. People from other sectors—especially IT specialists, startups, and innovation-focused teams—have entered this space with a more open mindset. They are generally more willing to exchange information quickly and to share advice.
That cultural shift is changing the market. The integration of these newer actors has made the sector more open and easier to consolidate around shared interests.
Jacobsen: Under what conditions do people reject a business proposition?
Sviatokum: The first issue is values. If the parties have very different values or working cultures, cooperation becomes difficult. Another issue is flexibility. If people are not flexible, they cannot build a workable partnership. Even if companies have similar or competing products, cooperation is still possible if they are willing to adapt.
I also bring foreign companies into cooperation here, because they have relevant expertise and experience, and so do we. If both sides have something useful, there is value in exchanging that knowledge and moving faster.
Jacobsen: What range of contract sizes do you typically handle, from small SME agreements to large-scale contracts?
Sviatokum: Who moves faster to secure the first major contract? It is similar to life. When I speak to students, I tell them that each of them can become a leader because they have energy and drive.
In this sector, if you can deliver results first, you are more likely to win the contract. You develop something, bring in engineers, build a prototype, and demonstrate that it works. If you have strong connections with military brigades and the product proves useful in real conditions, you gain traction. Soldiers are the real end users of these products. If they validate it, you can secure the contract.
Jacobsen: What is the age range of these business owners? How young or how old are they?
Sviatokum: At present, most founders are younger and come from the innovation and startup ecosystem. There are two general groups. The older generation consists of those who were already in the defence industry before the full-scale war. The newer founders are typically younger—ages 24 to 35.
Jacobsen: What are the limitations of the ecosystem?
Sviatokum: The main limitation is the war itself—active war. It drives the ecosystem, but it also constrains it. When the war ends, a large portion of these companies—perhaps 70 to 80 percent—may not survive.
Jacobsen: They would not be physically destroyed?
Sviatokum: No, not necessarily physically destroyed. They may not survive economically. The war acts as a catalyst for rapid development and demand. When that demand declines, many companies may no longer be viable.
Jacobsen: So the business environment itself changes, and the ecosystem contracts. Are any of these companies directly targeted and bombed?
Sviatokum: There are risks. Because companies operate legally, information about them can be found in public sources. That creates exposure. To mitigate this, some organizations take precautions—such as limiting public information, separating operational and registered addresses, and distributing facilities.
Jacobsen: What about technological espionage? How do you prevent it?
Sviatokum: In such a fast-changing environment, technologies evolve quickly. This reduces the long-term value of stolen information. Speed of innovation becomes a form of protection.
Jacobsen: Too difficult?
Sviatokum: Yes. You can obtain documents and transfer them to another company or country.
Jacobsen: And they are already outdated within six months.
Sviatokum: Yes, take interceptors, for example. Even if you acquire the design, you may not know how to use it effectively. And within a short period—sometimes even a month—it becomes outdated and no longer competitive.
Jacobsen: One final question on this topic. Do you think the Russian Federation’s war-related business ecosystem—despite allocating a large portion of its federal budget to defence—lacks motivation compared to Ukraine’s more existential framing of the war?
Sviatokum: Many participants on the Russian side are motivated primarily by financial incentives. That is why sanctions and economic pressure are so important—to reduce the profitability of war. If war is no longer economically beneficial, it becomes harder to sustain.
Many individuals go to the front lines for financial reasons. At the same time, companies involved in production also profit. There are foreign fighters on different sides, including individuals from countries such as Colombia, often bringing prior military experience.
Jacobsen: I attended a session from the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, and I have interviewed one of the commissioners, Brenda Grover. Their recent findings indicate that individuals from multiple countries have, in some cases, been recruited under pretenses—offered civilian jobs, given contracts they cannot read, and then coerced into frontline combat roles, often with severe consequences.
Sviatokum: That is a serious issue. Ukraine does recruit internationally, but through more transparent structures. The International Legion is an example—foreign volunteers can join under clear terms.
Jacobsen: I met a volunteer in Lviv—a Māori individual from New Zealand.
Sviatokum: Yes, there are volunteers from many regions, including Latin America and Africa. People come from different backgrounds.
Jacobsen: Some observers suggest that individuals from certain regions may view this as a distant or regional conflict rather than something directly relevant to them.
Sviatokum: That may be the case. Different countries have their own priorities and challenges.
Jacobsen: There are also reports of drone use spreading beyond Ukraine—for example, in parts of Central Africa. I will need to verify specific locations, but the trend suggests that this technology is becoming more widely adopted.
Sviatokum: Yes, drone technology is spreading globally.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Denys.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/21
Dr. Kateryna Rashevska is a Ukrainian human rights lawyer and PhD fellow in international law, specializing in accountability for war crimes against children. She is a Legal Expert and Lead on International Justice and Legal Analysis at the Regional Center for Human Rights. Rashevska is also a member of the Interdepartmental Commission on the Application and Implementation of International Humanitarian Law in Ukraine, the Expert Council at the Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the Bring Kids Back UA Task Force. She has addressed the UN Security Council and spoken publicly in international forums on child deportation cases.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Kateryna Rashevska on the UN Commission of Inquiry’s findings on Russia’s deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children. Rashevska explains that the Commission verified the deportation or transfer of 1,205 children from five oblasts and concluded that these acts amounted to crimes against humanity and war crimes of deportation and forcible transfer of children; the Commission also found enforced disappearance and unjustifiable delay in repatriation. She argues that delayed repatriation, Russification, militarization, ideological indoctrination, and long-term placement in Russian families or institutions form part of a broader system aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity. The discussion also examines accountability pathways through the ICC, sanctions, UN mechanisms, and broader international justice processes for protecting children and documenting continuing abuses under occupation today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Given the resource constraints facing the United Nations, which areas related to children remain underinvestigated?
Kateryna Rashevska: This is an important question. Much attention is rightly focused on children who have been deported or forcibly transferred, as there is an urgent need to secure their return to their families.
There is also growing attention to children living under Russian control in occupied territories who are subjected to militarization and political indoctrination. This is increasingly understood not only as a threat to Ukraine’s national security but as a broader regional security concern. The long-term implications of raising children within such systems remain uncertain.
However, several areas remain insufficiently examined. One is the intersectional impact of these policies. For example, there is limited research on the long-term physical and mental health consequences of militarization and indoctrination. There is also a need to assess the effects on social cohesion in Ukrainian-controlled territories following the return of these children.
Another underexplored issue is the demographic impact of Russian policies in occupied territories, including the forced alteration of population structures and its implications for prolonged occupation and future reintegration into Ukraine.
Additionally, the broader displacement of Ukrainian children and families abroad raises questions about long-term development, including economic and societal consequences, as well as implications for Ukraine’s future security.
Ukraine does not need only a labour force. It needs citizens who can defend the country and contribute to its reconstruction after Russian aggression, and who are prepared to face ongoing risks. It is unrealistic to assume that the threat from the Russian Federation will disappear. Future generations may face similar or greater risks, particularly if the international response does not change or if Russia does not undergo a transformation comparable to that of the Soviet Union.
These intersectional dimensions remain insufficiently addressed, as do certain categories of crimes committed against Ukrainian children under Russian control. For example, teenagers have been unlawfully detained and prosecuted on charges related to alleged disloyalty, including accusations of extremism or terrorism.
In cases where children have been forcibly assigned Russian citizenship, they may later be treated by Russian authorities as traitors. Some are transferred between occupied territories or deported to the Russian Federation to stand trial. There are documented cases of individuals, initially detained as minors, being sentenced as young adults to terms of seven or nine years in Russian penal institutions following convictions by Russian courts.
These individuals cannot be returned through prisoner-of-war exchanges, as they are civilians rather than combatants. Nor do they fall within existing return initiatives for abducted children. As a result, they remain in detention in the Russian Federation, effectively as civilian detainees, without clear mechanisms for return. Reports indicate that they may be subjected to torture, inhuman treatment, and other forms of abuse.
Additional concerns include sexual violence and other forms of ill-treatment in occupied territories. Such crimes are often underreported. Ukrainian children in these areas lack effective remedies or protection under the occupation authorities, despite the obligations of those authorities under international law.
Another underexamined issue is the risk of human trafficking. Armed conflict creates conditions in which trafficking can occur more easily. Ukrainian children are at heightened risk of exploitation, including in cases where they are transferred within or beyond the Russian Federation under various pretexts.
Several factors hinder monitoring and prevention. Russian domestic mechanisms to address trafficking are limited, and cooperation with European partners is absent. In addition, the issue has not received sufficient international attention.
In 2024, the United States placed Russia and Belarus in Tier 3 in its Trafficking in Persons reporting framework. Given that Ukrainian children have been transferred to both countries, including to so-called re-education facilities, this issue requires further investigation.
Greater attention to these patterns is necessary. Children are among the most vulnerable victims of this war, and both Ukraine and the international community bear responsibilities to ensure their protection and to address these violations comprehensively.
The international community has an obligation not only to respond to international crimes that have already been committed, but also to prevent their Commission. This requires proactive measures.
In 2024, United Nations experts invoked the term scholasticide to describe the systematic destruction of education systems in conflict settings. Although not developed specifically in the context of Ukraine, this framework is relevant for analyzing how the Russian Federation is using education in occupied territories.
Russian actions targeting education are both physical and ideological. There have been attacks on educational infrastructure, as well as efforts to reshape curricula and learning environments. These actions do not appear solely driven by military necessity but also aim to deprive Ukrainian children of opportunities for independent development.
In occupied territories and within the Russian Federation, education is used to advance state objectives rather than to support the child’s development. This includes promoting narratives aligned with Russian state interests, including justifying the war.
The concept of scholasticide provides a framework for examining the broader misuse of education systems. It expands analysis beyond militarization to include structural and ideological transformation. In this context, education policy may contribute to efforts to suppress Ukrainian identity and undermine Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign state.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Kateryna.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/20
Faye Callaghan is a maternal health specialist and midwife working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Ukraine. With expertise in reproductive health in humanitarian and conflict settings, she focuses on ensuring safe childbirth under extreme conditions, including the development of bunkerized maternity facilities. Her work addresses maternal mortality, emergency obstetric care, and psychosocial support systems amid war-related disruptions. Callaghan collaborates with international donors, health systems, and local providers to sustain critical services. She contributes to policy and field-level responses to gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual trauma while advancing resilient, adaptive healthcare delivery models in crisis environments.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen explores the realities of maternal healthcare in wartime Ukraine, highlighting stress, resilience, and systemic strain. Callaghan explains that maternity care lacks routine, requiring constant vigilance, especially under bombardment conditions. She emphasizes the importance of bunkerized facilities for safety and describes how prolonged stress can impair clinical judgment, increasing risks such as hemorrhage or missed complications. Rising maternal mortality is linked to delayed access to care and overwhelmed systems. The discussion also addresses gender-based violence, psychosocial gaps for healthcare workers, and long-term developmental impacts on children born under stress, underscoring the human limits behind narratives of “super resilience.”
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I was speaking with professionals working with veterans in mental health rehabilitation. Some of the veterans asked whether a full recovery is possible. The general response was that, while it may happen in some cases, most do not fully return to who they were before. Instead, the more realistic outcome is integration—acknowledging their experiences and building a new life around them.
I also spoke with a career counsellor who noted that many veterans do not want to return to their previous professions. They want a new direction entirely. That suggests a desire for a complete reset.
There is also a broader narrative about resilience. We often hear about “superwomen” and “super caretakers” among frontline workers and mothers taking on additional responsibilities. That is clearly grounded in reality, given the level of pressure they are under. At the same time, there is another equally important truth: they are human beings under sustained strain.
In many cases, those who remain are the ones able to endure these conditions. Can you walk me through what their daily, weekly, or monthly responsibilities look like when they are living on site for weeks at a time? You are likely in contact with some of them.
Faye Callaghan: In a maternity ward, there is effectively no routine because birth is unpredictable. Staff must remain constantly alert and ready for any situation. It is not a relaxing environment.
Unlike some workplaces, a maternity hospital does not provide an escape from external pressures. You do not know how many women will arrive or what conditions they will present with. The role of a midwife is to make the experience as safe and positive as possible, to reassure the woman, and to be prepared to carry out emergency interventions when needed.
That is where bunkerized facilities are especially important. They help create a sense of safety. In some cases, we have adapted existing underground shelters into maternity wards. Some of these were originally designed to withstand extreme scenarios, so they provide strong physical protection. If that environment can be made calm enough for a woman to feel safe delivering her child, that is a significant achievement.
Jacobsen: Are there psychosocial supports or mental health services available for these healthcare workers?
Callaghan: UNFPA primarily provides psychosocial support to survivors of gender-based violence. That is our main focus. Additional support for healthcare workers is an area where broader systems and partnerships are important, and there is a clear need.
Jacobsen: How long are their workdays?
Callaghan: A typical shift is around 12 hours, either day or night. However, in current conditions, routines often break down. Some staff remain on site for days at a time.
Jacobsen: What happens when stress becomes overwhelming?
Callaghan: Stress can narrow focus. In maternity care, which is already a high-pressure environment, this can mean concentrating intensely on one issue while missing another critical development.
For example, a provider may focus on a newborn with breathing difficulties while not immediately recognizing that the mother is experiencing severe hemorrhage, which is also life-threatening. Under stress, it becomes much harder to track multiple risks simultaneously.
That is why teamwork and adequate staffing are essential. Ideally, one provider monitors the newborn while another monitors the mother. It is not possible for one person to safely manage both in a high-risk situation, especially under stress.
Jacobsen: Does that level of stress contribute to increased complications or mortality among mothers?
Callaghan: Ukraine has made significant progress in reducing maternal mortality over the past two decades. However, more recent data indicate an increase in maternal mortality between 2024 and 2025.
There are multiple contributing factors. These may include delays in accessing care, increased strain on the healthcare system, and challenging working conditions. We are seeing increases in complications such as hemorrhage.
Another major factor is uterine rupture, which is a life-threatening condition. It is often associated with delayed access to appropriate care or complications during labour.
You can imagine the situation in a frontline environment. Bombardments are ongoing, and a woman goes into labour. She must decide whether to remain at home, where she feels safer, or attempt to travel through potentially dangerous conditions to reach a maternity hospital. Many may choose to stay at home.
If a serious complication occurs, such as uterine rupture, there is very limited time to respond. In such cases, urgent medical intervention is required within minutes to save the lives of both the woman and the baby. If access to care is delayed or impossible, the consequences can be fatal. That is one of the real impacts of attacks affecting healthcare access.
Jacobsen: Are statistics on injuries, deaths, and related outcomes publicly available?
Callaghan: Some data are publicly available. We can share a public health situation assessment published last year, which includes statistics for 2024 and 2025. We can also provide a more specific assessment focused on sexual and reproductive health.
Jacobsen: I am aware that the Russian Federation has changed its domestic violence legislation. I am also aware that there are significant frozen Russian assets internationally. Given that this is a humanitarian issue, involving gender-based violence, maternal health, and future generations, and that UNFPA is an authoritative UN body, could the use of those assets be considered for these needs?
Callaghan: I cannot comment on the use of Russian assets. We rely on donor support, and we are very grateful for that. For example, Ireland recently announced an additional €4 million in funding, which may support the expansion of bunkerized maternity units and outreach services to communities.
Jacobsen: Who are the largest supporters at present, beyond Ireland?
Callaghan: The European Union is a major supporter. For other contributors, we need to confirm the details.
Jacobsen: Turning to gender-based violence, it is a broad category. Even in highly developed countries with strong gender equality frameworks, such as Iceland, definitions of violence have expanded to include financial and emotional abuse, not only physical violence or visible injury. Sexual violence is also a major component. How is gender-based violence being documented and categorized in this context?
Callaghan: I am not a gender-based violence specialist, but we can connect you with someone who is. What I can say is that we have seen an increase in gender-based violence in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war. UNFPA is working extensively on this issue, including at the policy level with the government, to support responses that align with international standards for assisting survivors of sexual violence. That includes access to medical care, psychological support, and broader social services.
Another major issue is conflict-related sexual violence, which Ukraine, like many countries, has not had to address at this scale in recent decades. There is a clear need to develop specialized support systems for survivors, given the complexity of their needs.
At present, UNFPA is also working on rehabilitation approaches at the family level, including support for individuals—such as soldiers or former prisoners of war—who return with these experiences.
Jacobsen: Yes, I have seen recent reporting from UN bodies on that issue. One final question for this session: In visiting veterans in recovery, many say they do not fully “get over” these experiences. Given the length of the war, infants born prematurely or under high-stress conditions may also face physiological impacts. They have no agency in these circumstances. How might that affect them over the course of their development?
Callaghan: It can, although it depends on the individual and the conditions they experience. There is another important factor: the relationship between the father and the child. If the father is absent for extended periods, there may be challenges in attachment and bonding when he returns. That can place additional stress on the mother and may have longer-term social and developmental implications for the child.
Jacobsen: One final point. There is a narrative about “superwomen” and “super caretakers” among frontline workers and mothers who take on additional responsibilities. That is clearly grounded in reality, given the level of pressure they are under. At the same time, there is another equally valid perspective: they are human beings under sustained strain. In many cases, those who remain are the ones able to endure these conditions.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/19
Alevtina Kakhidze (b. 1973, Zhdanivka) is a Ukrainian multidisciplinary artist known for incisive drawing-performances that braid personal history, war testimony, and plant–human ecologies. Trained at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv (1999–2004) and the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands (2004–2006), she lives and works in Muzychi near Kyiv. Since 2018, she has served in Ukraine as a United Nations/UNDP “Tolerance Envoy.” Significant recognitions include the Kazimir Malevich Artist Award (2008) and the 2023 Women in Arts — The Resistance prize (Women in Visual Arts category). Recent highlights include Ukraine’s National Pavilion, From South to North, at the inaugural maltabiennale.art (2024) and the solo exhibition Plants and People at Galeria Arsenał, Białystok (October 24, 2024–January 19, 2025). Her ongoing research and performance strand Follow the Plants frames ecology as a pacifist methodology amid conflict.
In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Kakhidze recalls Donbas 2014: local collaborators, naïve hopes, propaganda myths about shale gas and Russian language. She recounts recovering her mother’s body with Red Cross help and a schoolmate-turned-director, who was later imprisoned. Zhdanivka’s brief liberation in August 2014, Minsk’s withdrawal, and the 2022 phase shaped her view that Russia’s 2022 phase is crueller and that support near Kyiv is scarce. Kakhidze links “Follow the Plants,” perennial grains, and militarized “kill/gray zones” to climate damage. Accepting mortality, she urges global responsibility: think globally, act locally.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s start. I think the point about your mother is an important starting point. From your mother’s notes, what were some of the key points or takeaways you found while reading them, before 2022 and now?
Alevtina Kakhidze: Yes, this is an important question. If you want to go very deeply into it, the way the Russians acted in Donbas before 2022 was a bit different. In Donbas, they had more civilian supporters. Even my neighbours believed the naïve idea that, with Russia, they would be more prosperous and economically successful.
That was in 2014, not now. Now they are completely lost—they don’t have water. They’ve realized that everything they imagined was madness. There was even a man—I went to school with him, we were in the same class, and we even had a relationship. He was very enthusiastic about this so-called new power. But later, they put him in a cellar.
I know this because when my mother died, I tried to do something with her dog. I didn’t want to go myself to retrieve her body because I knew it would be dangerous—I am openly pro-Ukrainian and a well-known artist. If you Google me, you’ll see many articles. The Red Cross helped me to bring my mother’s body, but they asked me not to tell journalists because they want to keep helping others quietly. So I got back my mother’s body, but the dog stayed behind.
The dog is still alive. When I started talking to this old friend from school, he told me, “Alevtina, I’m the director of the biggest mining factory in Europe.” That’s true—it’s a large enterprise. Why did he become director? Because the previous one had left, it was apparent that the occupation was chaotic in every sense.
He promised to take care of the dog. Then I started calling him, but he didn’t answer. I sent many messages—nothing.Set featured image So I searched for him online. Even in Ukrainian news, it was reported that he had been captured by the armed forces of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
He had been proud to hold a position there, but then they imprisoned him. Later, I lost contact with him because I lost my phone, and he probably changed his. My mother’s friend told me that he became skinny after his imprisonment, but they eventually released him. I would say that for some young people who were very pro-Ukrainian, staying in Donetsk became unbearable.
Or so-called Donetsk People’s Republic—it was dangerous, and most people left.
Jacobsen: For people like your mom —an older woman —she could stay without such problems. What was her age at that time, by the way?
Kakhidze: In her seventies.
Jacobsen: Oh, yes.
Kakhidze: But in Bucha, Irpin, or Kherson, it didn’t matter what your age was—you could be shot.
Jacobsen: I mean more in terms of if push came to shove and you had to flee, you’d need a vehicle. You can’t go far on foot.
Kakhidze: Yes, but we could have helped her. We were waiting for her. She didn’t want to leave her house. What I wanted to say—my point is that in the Donetsk area, until 2022, the Russians acted through many collaborators, primarily local, and they weren’t as cruel toward the population. They weren’t completely mad.
There were some soldiers from deep inside Russia. I remember a story my mom told. She was going to the market, and a young man in a Russian uniform asked her where he could buy cigarettes. She said, “You don’t know where to buy cigarettes?” He said, “No, I came from far away to protect you.” And my mom said, “Protect us? I don’t need any protection. Give me your phone number, I’ll call your mother and tell her that you could lose your arm or leg here, or even be killed. Let me call her.”
I said, “Are you crazy to talk to him? He’s holding a Kalashnikov.” And she said, “Come on, he’s so young.” My mom had worked in a kindergarten, and for her, anyone under twenty was still a child. She said, “He was like a kid. I was talking to him as if he were my student.”
Actually, there were some people from deep Russia, but most of those with weapons were locals. For instance, my neighbour once asked my mom, “What do you think, should I take money from the Russians to stand at a checkpoint for ten thousand rubles?” And my mom said, “No, Vitya, better not to do that.”
But the Russians, after 2022, are much crueller. They don’t have the same strategy or policy of acting through locals. Around Kyiv, they found almost no supporters—maybe a few marginal people. In my village, I don’t know anyone who supported them.
But if you talk about my mom’s city back in 2014, even on her street, there were many people sympathetic to Russia. I don’t think they truly understood what they believed in. Now they’ve changed their minds. They don’t want this“independence” anymore.
Jacobsen: And what does independence mean to them now, when they’ve changed their minds?
Kakhidze: At that time, they believed Russia would bring them independence from Kyiv.
Jacobsen: So they thought they were becoming “Little Russia”?
Kakhidze: Exactly. But if you look deeper, it’s hard to understand. I remember that at that time, my mom was very pro-Ukrainian. She argued constantly with people who believed in the so-called independence of the Donetsk region alongside Russia. She fought with them and argued passionately. She could be stubborn—almost crazy about it.
For example, she once said, “Alevtina, can you explain to me—is it possible that Kyiv could poison all the people in our city with shale gas?”
“Alevtina, is it possible that Kyiv, eight hundred kilometres away, could poison people in the Donetsk area with shale gas?”
That was myth number one.
Myth number two: they were terrified that people in the Donetsk region would be forbidden to speak Russian. Even now, people still talk to Russians openly in Kyiv there—you know this. But in 2014, they were drowning in Russian disinformation.
If you came to my studio near Kyiv, I could show you a ton of propaganda my mom brought from Donetsk. All of it claimed that people couldn’t even speak Russian at home. Russia carried out a massive propaganda campaign against these poor people, my neighbours. I can’t even describe how effective it was. Whatever Russia does in this world, it lies. They are number one at lying.
So, first, there was the myth that shale gas from Kyiv would kill people. Second, the myth that people in Lviv were all“Banderites”—as if that meant something evil. It was not very nice. These people lived in total fear of Kyiv. They believed Russia would somehow protect them. Because of that, Russia didn’t need to use much weaponry at first. They used hybrid tactics instead—psychological and informational warfare—to paint Kyiv as absolutely evil.
But at the same time, all those older people, like my mom, still travelled to Kyiv to collect their pensions. They actually received two types of pensions—one from Russia and one from Ukraine.
Jacobsen: I didn’t know that.
Kakhidze: Yes, it was utterly absurd. Ukraine’s army was still fighting for the region until January or February 2015, and then the Minsk Agreement was reached. My city—Zhdanivka—was occupied by Russia in April 2014. But the Ukrainian army entered the city and liberated it on August 16, 2014.
Jacobsen: So it was several months of occupation.
Kakhidze: Yes, several months. Ukrainian authorities remained in the city until September 20, 2014. Then, under the terms of the Minsk Agreement, a dividing line was established, and the Ukrainian army had to withdraw from my city. So, my mom was thrilled because, for about a month and a half, she felt that Zhdanivka would remain part of Ukraine—but it didn’t. That was only after the first Minsk Agreement, not the second one.
Jacobsen: You’ve served as a UNDP Tolerance Envoy since 2018 and received the Kazimir Malevich Artist Award in 2008 and the Women in Arts—The Resistance award in 2023. What do those recognitions mean to you?
Kakhidze: The Kazimir Malevich Award was a long time ago—2008, at the beginning of my career. It was meaningful because it was the very first edition of that award, and I was nominated. It gave me confidence as a young artist.
About the Tolerance Envoy role—it’s interesting. That was during the Russian–Ukrainian war, though at that time Ukrainian society wasn’t yet fully aware of how serious the conflict would become. I was travelling across eastern Ukraine as a “tolerance envoy.” But honestly, it was a bit of a strange concept. They said, “We’ve noticed that Ukraine doesn’t have enough tolerance.”
Jacobsen: For being invaded?
Kakhidze: Exactly. They thought the problem was that Ukrainians weren’t tolerant enough. So they created this idea of tolerance envoys who would “work on it.” There were about twenty of us—writers, musicians, artists. I did what I already do in my artistic practice, except this time I was technically paid for travel expenses. Actual fee? One hryvnia per year—for tax purposes.
So I was going to the eastern part of the country—Donetsk, Kramatorsk, Bakhmut, Kostyantynivka, all those cities. Some of them no longer exist now. I met with people, showed them my art, and spoke with them. It was really humanitarian work.
I wanted to remind them that Kyiv hadn’t forgotten them—that we were with them. Since I’m from that region, it was personal. I grew up there before moving to Kyiv to study art. My mother was still living there at the time.
So for me, this “tolerance envoy” role became a way to do something concrete and human for the people living near the occupied territories and the front line.
Jacobsen: That’s not an uncommon feeling. There’s often frustration within Ukraine that the so-called “West” tends to issue statements of concern or condemnation rather than taking more decisive action. Sending money helps, of course—Canada’s done that—but as the joke goes: “Money is great, but money is not munitions.” When you’re being bombed, statements of concern don’t stop missiles. Peace sometimes means fighting an aggressor.
Kakhidze: I’ll tell you another joke: money always has a limit. You can’t buy a nuclear bomb.
Jacobsen: That’s from the earlier era of gallows humour. You were denuclearized, of course, after the Soviet period.
Kakhidze: That’s true.
Jacobsen: I haven’t published this yet, but I once visited one of the decommissioned nuclear sites. You go down twelve stories underground to the control room, and they show you this old video—something being destroyed by a nuclear strike—to demonstrate what the site was designed for. Now it’s basically a war scrap yard and living museum.
So, shifting topics: social realities, war, and plant–human ecologies. You trained at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, wanted to be an artist from early on, earned awards like the Kazimir Malevich in 2008, and later, Women in Arts—The Resistance in 2023. Maybe the “tolerance envoy” title was a little naïvely optimistic, but it was still recognition.
When you’re portraying social realities and plant–human ecologies, what are you trying to express—about the relationship between humans and the environment, and about Ukrainian social life, or even human life in general?
Kakhidze: So, ecology: I work with children a lot. Recently, I created a colouring book where they could draw their own answers and colour them in. I pulled three bags and asked them to imagine what they’d put inside.
One bag was “freedom for yourself.”
One bag was “freedom for our country.”
And one was “freedom for the whole planet.”
I told them they could fill each bag however they wished—starting from their own, as individuals, or thinking about the bag for the planet. And one child said something that really struck me: “If I don’t put humans in the bag for the planet’sfreedom, everything will be fine.”
Since Russia escalated the war, everything has become worse for the environment. Every border conflict now demands more weapons. You see this, too, right?
Jacobsen: I do.
Kakhidze: The war in Ukraine brings more CO₂ emissions, more fires, more destruction. It’s a climate crisis multiplier. But if we’re being sincere, the front line in Ukraine is also the coldest region—it has no agriculture now. Do you know that?
Jacobsen: That’s a good point. I didn’t know that.
Kakhidze: Yes, but we can’t celebrate that. The loss of agriculture doesn’t mean the land heals—it just means the land dies differently. And beyond Ukraine, Russia’s aggression has frightened everyone. Poland is afraid; the Baltic states are worried. The escalation affects the entire ecosystem—political, social, and environmental.
Germany has started to think seriously about it, too. But overall, people around the world aren’t spending enough time thinking about how to address the climate crisis. And this is not Ukraine’s fault—it’s the fault of Russia and other authoritarian states like China and North Korea.
As an artist and researcher, I’ve been studying how human systems influence the climate crisis, and what I’ve learned in recent years is quite revealing.
First, our global agriculture is based mainly on annual plants rather than perennial ones. You understand what I mean—wheat or grain could be perennial. In fact, perennial wheat already exists. I visited Kansas State University in 2021, where they’re researching it. There I just found out about The Land Institute.
Perennial grain means we don’t have to disturb the soil every spring. When we don’t plow the soil, we burn less fuel, release less CO₂, and maintain soil health. Annual crops—because they require constant tilling—disrupt that balance and increase emissions.
Secondly, perennial plants don’t release the same volume of CO₂ as annual crops. The Earth—whether created by God, nature, or something else—was once covered by meadows and forests, not by vast fields of annual plants.
But now, our landscapes are dominated by sunflowers, corn, and wheat—all annual crops. That’s why the front line in Ukraine has effectively become the coldest strip of land on the planet—no agriculture grows there anymore.
Jacobsen: That’s fascinating. As a related note, a Romanian journalist colleague told me recently—and a Ukrainian lieutenant confirmed it yesterday—that the area is no longer strictly a “front line.” The Romanian called it a “kill zone,” while the Ukrainian called it a “gray zone.”
The difference is subtle but essential. A gray zone or kill zone isn’t an active line of combat—it’s a vast, deadly stretch of land where almost no one can survive. With drones and remote warfare, either side can strike across, maybe, twenty kilometres or more. So if you enter that space, it’s pure destruction. No one farms there. And there have been reports—credible ones—of Russian drones bombing farmers on tractors.
Kakhidze: Yes, we are talking about a kill zone.
Jacobsen: So, to your point, “front line” sounds too narrow. The kill zone, or gray zone, can stretch 20 kilometres wide. They measured along roughly 1,200 kilometres of front. Multiply that by twenty, and that’s the scale of land we’re talking about.
Kakhidze: Yes, I’ve read that. These scientists are soldiers too—botanists who joined the army. Every day they’d eat breakfast—soup and bread—and then measure soil temperature before returning to their military duties. Two people sharing one trench: a botanist and a soldier. Fifteen minutes for science, and then back to war.
So, talking again about how I convey ecology—what I mean is this: people around the world still don’t understand that we’re all in the same box. The Russian-Ukrainian war is not just a Ukrainian war. It’s not only our problem. It’s a global one, deeply tied to ecology.
Until people in every country recognize this—and start investing not only in defence but also in science—we won’t solve it. I mentioned the perennial grain earlier. It exists at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. I visited them. The idea came from a scientist who was imprisoned and later killed under Stalin’s regime. He proposed perennial grain nearly a hundred years ago.
People need to devote more time and funding to science if we want humanity to survive for the next thousand years. If we continue consuming without awareness—if we say, “It’s someone else’s war, it’s not our concern”—we will lose the planet.
No ecological plan will succeed if countries like Norway, Sweden, or Canada think they can maintain clean environments while other parts of the world burn. That’s impossible. My message is to think globally but apply those thoughts locally.
I’ve often debated this in my own mind, especially with the ideas of the French philosopher Bruno Latour. Do you know him?
Jacobsen: Yes.
Kakhidze: Bruno Latour—the philosopher of science and ecology. Right. He died in 2022 in Paris. When he was still alive that year, he wrote something remarkable: “This morning I received two pieces of news—one was a new report on the climate crisis, and the other was the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. I don’t know which news is more tragic.”
He said he couldn’t decide which was worse: the climate crisis report or the invasion. In my opinion, that’s a foolish statement. The Russian-Ukrainian war is not separate from the climate crisis—it’s both problems in one.
Jacobsen: That’s a fair point. The invasion’s impact on emissions, agriculture, and infrastructure was immediate—within a quarter or two of an economic cycle, the environmental damage was measurable.
The effects on agriculture were immediate, especially in countries that depend on Ukrainian grain. Many people didn’trealize how deeply reliant the world was on those harvests. Even the Ukrainian flag symbolizes that—the blue for sky and the yellow for fields of grain.
Kakhidze: I recently spoke with people from Africa who told me that the price of sunflower oil has tripled since 2020. For them, that’s devastating.
Jacobsen: It seems Latour didn’t grasp this interconnectedness. From a logical perspective, it’s what we’d call a false dichotomy. These aren’t two separate crises. The war and the climate emergency are the same problem expressed at different scales—one global, one local.
The invasion diverts global focus away from addressing planetary warming, while simultaneously worsening it. Russia is a significant oil producer. Putin’s regime depends on high oil prices to survive economically. Even when prices drop, he finds buyers—India, for instance—who will keep the market alive.
It’s a selective kind of blindness: recognizing both problems but failing to see their integration. Fundamentally, these are the same crisis—different human actions feeding the same destructive system.
Kakhidze: I was deeply disappointed that he couldn’t see this. For me, it’s two problems in one package—or two for the price of one. Why hesitate to say that?
Jacobsen: I think that kind of hesitation often comes from comfort. Societies that have solved their infrastructure, food, and healthcare issues—places like France or Luxembourg—live in relative ease. For much of human history — over the last 250,000 years — survival was an everyday struggle. That sense of urgency has been dulled.
Comfort breeds detachment. People lose perspective on how fragile stability really is. In those environments, there’s a lot of what we call “waffling” or “flip-flopping”—politicians who avoid conviction or urgency.
If Luxembourg invaded France, there would be less hesitation in responding. But when a crisis is elsewhere, especially in Eastern Europe, people deliberate endlessly rather than act when outside it. It’s like a headache. Once you have it, that becomes the sole concern.
Kakhidze: Yes, but if we’re talking about ecology, then your metaphor about a headache fits perfectly. The climate crisis is that collective headache. Wherever emissions increase—anywhere on the planet—it hurts us all.
Jacobsen: Climate change is a global headache. And, unfortunately, even understanding that requires basic scientific literacy. For example, in Canada, about a quarter of people still reject evolutionary theory. They believe humans were created 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, an idea traced back to Bishop James Ussher’s chronology from the 17th century.
Ussher calculated the age of the world by counting biblical genealogies and concluded that creation began in 4004 BCE—on a Thursday afternoon, no less.
Kakhidze: [Laughing] The Maya people in Guatemala must find that funny. They say, “We are on the land of the Maya,” so everyone claims some ancient heritage.
Jacobsen: True. In a sense, we’re all on Neanderthal land, too. There was a Ukrainian shared joke about that, actually.
Kakhidze: Really? Tell me.
Jacobsen: In Canada, we have land acknowledgments—ceremonial statements recognizing some Indigenous territories. Some are historically accurate; some are apparently debatable. There are about 600 First Nations bands across the country. So, a Ukrainian shared a meme once, which said, “I would like to acknowledge that I am on the unceded territory of the Neanderthals,” maybe referring to places like Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipro, or Odesa. It’s a darkly humorous comment on how far back you can trace the roots of belonging.
Anyway, I recently gave a webinar at a humanistic education school, and someone asked me about the impact of humanist education in the so-called “Third World” (their term) compared to the “First World.” I pointed out that terms like East and West, First and Third World, developed and developing—they’re losing meaning. They’re placeholders from another era.
Today, with mass travel and instant communication, the boundaries are porous—more like Swiss cheese than walls. Even“the West” is a confusing term. Geographically, it would never include Japan or South Korea, but culturally and politically, they’re considered part of the Western world. So are we talking geography or values? Because, through time, values shift and overlap.
And when people talk about “East versus West,” they rarely include African nations in those categories, even though Africa itself has both East and West. The more we talk, the clearer it becomes: we’re all in the same boat, the same ecological and geopolitical system, to your point.
Mass travel and communication make that shared reality more visible, even though many groups are retreating inward—nationally or regionally. You see this in the United States, where isolationism is on the rise. The country withdraws from global cooperation—cuts USAID funding, erects tariff walls, pulls back from international engagement. And when they step away, someone else fills that gap.
Of course, Ukrainians have fair critiques of what they call “the West.” But the bigger picture is that these old geopolitical categories are dissolving. Over the next few decades, they’ll probably collapse entirely in 20th-century use and meaning. Kardashev described a Type I civilization as a global one, which seems emergent. If we make it, then these are its birth pangs.
Global challenges, e.g., climate change, nuclear proliferation, and pandemics, don’t respect borders. They’re statistically distributed but globally bound.
Kakhidze: Yes, exactly. When you’ve lived in war for twelve years and still keep creating, your perspective changes. As an artist, I don’t think like someone in constant danger anymore. Everyone in Ukraine has already accepted the possibility of death. If someone is genuinely terrified of nuclear weapons, missiles, or drones, they can leave Ukraine. It’s possible for anyone—even men. You can cross the river. Many have deserted that way.
Jacobsen: Yes, that happens in any war.
Kakhidze: When I talk about these global ideas, it’s because I’ve already gone through the imagination of being dead. I’ve accepted that possibility. So now I think from a place beyond fear—almost from the perspective of being dead already, if that makes sense.
Once you’ve accepted the possibility of being killed, your thinking changes. You stop being trapped by small personal worries—your “headache,” as you called it. You begin to think about the world differently, from outside of your own survival.
It’s not a normal perspective. When you live in a peaceful country, you think about saving money for retirement or planning for old age. In Ukraine, no one believes that way anymore. If you aren’t planning a long-term future, how can you think about the world long-term?
So we live between two extremes—day-to-day survival, and a distant, almost abstract future. It’s a strange place to exist, somewhere between human and animal, between life and something beyond it. And that makes me wonder what will happen to the world as a whole.
Jacobsen: That’s a profound way to put it. I was travelling with a Ukrainian colleague. They shared a humorous meme playing on stereotypes. It showed three people: a Frenchman saying, “I will die for love,” an American saying, “I will die for freedom,” and an Eastern European saying, “I will die.”
Kakhidze: Yes, but for Americans, “dying for freedom” feels like an outdated idea. You can see that inside their democratic system, no one is really dying for freedom anymore. And the French dying for love is also a stereotype. I teach in France, and I know them well.
Even within Ukraine, there are so many different reactions. Some of my artist friends joined the army voluntarily. Others fled. Some stay home, trying to avoid meeting the people who might check their passports and send them to fight.
Men in Ukraine must carry what we call something like a “military ticket.” I’m not sure of the exact translation, but it’s essentially documentation proving you’re registered as a potential member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Jacobsen: Like an exemption card or enlistment record?
Kakhidze: Yes, something like that. Anyway, all these national stereotypes still exist. Americans aren’t really so devoted to freedom as they claim, and when I was in France, I didn’t notice people dying for love either. These are just myths.
Jacobsen: Now, some Ukrainians can develop dark humour in war. Stereotypes can abound. Thank you for the opportunity and your time today, Alevtina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/18
Mark I. Gorenstein is a Ukrainian theoretical physicist at the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyiv, where he heads the Department of High-Density Energy Physics. His work focuses on relativistic heavy-ion collisions, fluctuation observables, hadron-resonance-gas models, and the search for the QCD critical point. He co-authored the subensemble acceptance method that connects measured cumulants to grand-canonical susceptibilities, and the quantum van der Waals extension of the HRG model. A Humboldt Research Award laureate with longstanding collaborations in Frankfurt (FIAS/Goethe University), he remains active in Kyiv. Recent work analyzes the chemical freeze-out curve and its implications for critical-point searches.
In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Gorenstein discusses current theoretical challenges, promising beam-energy ranges for critical-point searches, the war’s impact on Ukrainian science, and the international collaborations sustaining fundamental research under crisis conditions.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What problem in heavy-ion theory is currently on your mind?
Mark I. Gorenstein: During last years the main theoretical problem in my mind is the QCD critical point. Does it exist? If yes, in what part of the phase diagram it is placed? What are the possible experimental signal? At the moment all these questions are the open problems.
Jacobsen: What does the sub-ensemble acceptance method correct in fluctuation analyses?
Gorenstein: The sub-ensemble acceptance method gives a general procedure for the statistical model corrections of the baryon number fluctuations due to the global conservation law. For heavy colliding nuclei the total baryon number (a sum of protons and neutrons) is about 400. This number calculated as a number of baryons minus antibaryons remains constant at all stages of nucleus-nucleus collision. In experiment, the baryon number is measured event-by-event in the part of the momentum space. The average baryon number in this part is typically about 10-20% of the total number, i.e. about 40-80. Just this accepted part of the baryon number does fluctuate event-by-event. An increase of these fluctuations is the expected signal of approaching to the critical point of the strongly interacting matter. However, the global conservation of baryon number 400 influences fluctuations in the accepted part. The sub-ensemble gives the rules to calculate this influence. It makes the measured fluctuation signals significantly more transparent.
Jacobsen: What are the main limits of quantum van der Waals models?
Gorenstein: Van der Waals invented his famous equation in 1873. In 1910 he obtained the Nobel Prize for this discovery. However, only recently we succeeded to extend this model to nuclear matter taking into account the Fermi statistics of protons and neutrons. The resulted model explains the 1st order liquid-gas phase transition in the nuclear matter and appears to be quite useful in a description of the hadron gas, i.e., the mixture of interacting baryons, antibaryons, and mesons. The main limits of this model – it says nothing about quarks and gluons. These hadron constituents form the quark-gluon plasma at high temperature and/or baryonic density. A description of the hadron-quark transformation requires new more sophisticated QCD based model approaches.
Jacobsen: Which measurements would most reduce uncertainty about the Quantum Chromodynamics critical point?
Gorenstein: Event-by-event fluctuations of the baryon number and electric charge are probably most straightforward measurements of the QCD critical point signals.
Jacobsen: Which beam-energy range looks most promising for a critical-point search?
Gorenstein: Today we think that intermediate collision energy of 3-6 GeV per nucleon pair in the center of mass system of colliding nuclei is most promising for the QCD critical point search. This is the experimental region for several collaborations: STAR at RHIC (USA), NA61/SHINE at SPS (CERN), and HADES at GSI (Germany).
Jacobsen: How has the war changed day-to-day research and mentoring activities?
Gorenstein: The day-to-day research continues despite the war. This is likely a special situation for theoretical investigations. They can be conducted under different conditions. I see the two main changes in our department. Before the war it was not easy for Ukrainian senior scientists to have the long term positions in the Western Universities. During the war this becomes much easier. Two of our senior scientists (above 60) are abroad already 3 years – in Italy and in Poland. On the contrary, before 2022 young scientists had good chances to find the positions for PhD students and post-doctors in Europe and USA. Now this is forbidden for men under 60 by the Ukrainian law.
Jacobsen: Which international collaboration has been reliable for your team since 2022?
Gorenstein: For our department there were several places for collaboration: theoretical gropes of Prof. Horst Stoecker (FIAS, Frankfurt) and Prof. Volodymyr Vovchenko (Houston University, USA), and experimental grope of NA61/SHINE Collaboration (CERN). This international collaboration has been reliable since 2022.
Jacobsen: What immediate support would help Ukrainian theory groups stay productive?
Gorenstein: Personal support from Prof. Horst Stoecker (Germany) and Prof. Shin Nan Yang (Taiwan National University, Taipei) for our scientists was very important in 2022.
The Simons Foundation has made a great contribution supporting Ukrainian scientists in theoretical physics and mathematics. Each scientist at our institute obtains a monthly salary supplement of 200 $. This is indeed important as a monthly salary of our scientists in Kyiv is about 250-400 $.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Mark.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/17
Kenchen Arjandas Bharwani is a fashion consultant specializing in the off-price apparel sector, with expertise in inventory distribution, excess stock recovery, and supply chain strategy. She is a professional in the fields of manufacturing and retail, helping factories recover losses from cancelled orders, delayed shipments, misplaced tags, and surplus garments while connecting retailers with quality products at value-driven price points. Bharwani began her career in Indonesia, where she helped build a garment export business into a trusted off-price vendor across multiple international markets. She later expanded menswear, ladieswear, and socks divisions through consulting and buying roles across major sourcing hubs in Asia.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Kenchen Arjandas Bharwani about the off-price fashion sector, where surplus garments, cancelled orders, tariff disruptions, and labeling problems create both waste and opportunity. Bharwani explains how factories overproduce structurally to manage defects and delivery risks, why tariffs now strand goods at ports, and how off-price buyers negotiate to recover value from abandoned inventory. She describes the commercial logic behind giving garments a second life rather than sending them to landfills, emphasizing trust, pricing, consumer demand, and regulatory compliance. The discussion highlights fashion’s hidden inefficiencies and practical routes toward more sustainable redistribution worldwide.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How did your early experience in Indonesia, before being in New York, shape your understanding of excess inventory as an opportunity rather than a commercial loss?
Kenchen Arjandas Bharwani: In Indonesia, after I graduated, my first work experience was with a garment company that had strong connections with factories holding excess inventory but relatively few buyers. I helped look for buyers; essentially importers, who would be willing to purchase excess inventory from factories.
As I learned more about the business, I understood that this excess inventory often came from cancelled brand orders. Those cancellations could happen for relatively minor reasons, such as a pantone variation in black or a hang tag being placed incorrectly, details that end consumers often do not notice. From a consumer perspective, someone simply wants a black coat.
Another major reason was delayed delivery. Stores have their own timelines for when products need to reach the sales floor. If goods are not going to arrive on time, or if suppliers inform retailers of a delay, orders may be cancelled.
As a result, a great deal of this merchandise remained in pristine condition even though it had been cancelled. For me, that raised the question of why such good garments were being treated as losses. The company I started working with did not have much exposure to importers, so I helped build that side of the business from the ground up. First one client, then two, then three. As of now, the company is running very well on its own.
Jacobsen: Very cool. Why do garments get stranded in the supply chain even though they are wearable and marketable?
Bharwani: Mainly for those reasons, especially cancellations. More recently, tariffs have also been a factor. That has been affecting things since last year.
It is no longer just a matter of goods being stranded in factories. They are now also getting stranded at ports. When new rules took effect, such as changes in tariffs, they can apply to goods already in transit. Brands plan their margins in advance, but these sudden changes disrupt those calculations. As a result, companies may decide not to clear goods from ports because the additional costs make it unprofitable. They would have to pay significantly more than anticipated, and at that point, no one is making money. The goods become too expensive to sell.
More broadly, when goods are stranded in the supply chain, the main reasons include cancellations, tariffs, and situations where brands go bankrupt and no longer take delivery. In those cases, shipments may be abandoned at the port. That is where companies like ours step in, negotiating to purchase the goods through various channels.
Jacobsen: What kinds of blockages or hurdles arise in those negotiations over stranded garments?
Bharwani: Primarily, sellers try to recover their costs. For example, a license holder for a brand may have merchandise stranded at a port and will want to cover production costs such as fabric, stitching, logistics, tariffs, and duties.
However, we approach it differently. For us, stranded goods represent an opportunity. We negotiate aggressively on price so that we can acquire the goods at a level that allows us to supply off-price retailers. These retailers, in turn, aim to offer affordable products to consumers across income levels.
The main point of tension is that sellers expect cost recovery, while we do not operate with that mindset because we are not manufacturers. That creates a negotiation gap. Ultimately, both sides tend to move toward a practical resolution. The longer goods sit, the more they deteriorate and the higher the storage costs become, especially warehouse and port fees. Over time, that pressure encourages sellers to reach terms with buyers like us.
Jacobsen: Is fashion overproduction structural, or is it simply poor forecasting?
Bharwani: I think it is structural. Apparel factories employ thousands of people, and, naturally, people make mistakes. Even with templates and systems in place, some garments will have issues such as stitching errors, misplaced elements, or other defects. That is simply part of day-to-day production.
Because of that, factories build a tolerance for overproduction into their planning. They purchase enough materials to allow for a certain buffer so they can make up for damaged or defective items. A garment may be stained, dirty due to accidentally dropped on the floor, have skip-stitches or otherwise compromised in other ways during production. Factories still have to fulfill the purchase orders placed by brands. If a brand orders 100,000 units, the factory must be able to deliver 100,000 acceptable units. So they plan for the risks that come with production.
In that sense, overproduction is structural. It is built into the manufacturing process. Factories anticipate that some items will not be usable, and they produce accordingly. Then, if excess goods remain in good condition, they may sell them to buyers like us. Some factories do not have much excess because they end up using most of that buffer. Others operate efficiently enough that good surplus inventory remains available, which creates opportunities for buyers like our company.
Jacobsen: The major garment-producing countries are probably China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Since each country has its own rules, do you adjust your negotiations to each one, or do you find common principles that work regardless of which country controls that stranded inventory?
Bharwani: I would say the negotiations are guided by common principles. In the end, when suppliers are stuck with this kind of inventory, their goal is to recover as much cost as possible. My goal is also consistent across markets: to secure the best deal we can wherever we buy from.
So yes, the principles are broadly the same. Trust is very important. They need to be able to trust us, and it is my job as a fashion consultant to show them that the arrangement can be a win-win for both sides. Payment terms also matter. Sellers often want very quick payment, and we try to accommodate that when possible because we understand that, if we want the deal to happen, we need to bring something attractive to the table, especially quick cash recovery.
Jacobsen: What about mislabeling or misplaced labeling affecting resale potential? Does that become an issue for finished garments?
Bharwani: This is particularly important in the United States because there are specific regulations enforced by customs. For garments sold in the U.S., certain information must be immediately visible to the consumer. For example, on tops, the brand name, size, and country of origin must be clearly displayed and easy to see at first glance. That is why these details are typically placed in a central, visible location.
The same applies to other garments, such as pants. The brand, size, and country of origin must be clearly indicated. For children’s clothing, the requirements are even more stringent. These garments must meet specific safety standards, including testing for flammability and harmful substances such as lead. They also require additional labeling, such as tracking information, to ensure safety and accountability.
Labeling also extends to care instructions and fabric composition. This is important because consumers may have sensitivities or allergies to certain materials. If fabric content or washing instructions are not properly disclosed, it can lead to customer complaints. Retailers that purchase in bulk will notice patterns of issues over time, which ultimately creates problems across the supply chain.
Jacobsen: How does off-price retail give garments a second life? Otherwise, many of them would likely end up in landfills, especially since many are made from polyester and do not decompose easily.
Bharwani: Off-price retail creates a second life for garments because of how brand agreements with factories are structured. In many cases, especially with large brands, contracts include clauses stating that if an order is cancelled due to factory-related issues, even minor ones, the factory is not permitted to resell those goods elsewhere. In some instances, brands explicitly require that the garments be destroyed.
Off-price retailers provide an alternative pathway. Because they are established players with wide distribution, they can approach brands directly and request permission to purchase and redistribute cancelled or excess goods. In many cases, brands will allow this, depending on the retailer, as it avoids the need to destroy usable merchandise.
However, this often comes with conditions. For example, labels may need to be altered, such as being marked through or partially removed, so that the goods are distinguishable from those sold in full-price retail environments. This helps brands maintain their pricing structure and market positioning, even if the underlying product is of comparable quality.
Jacobsen: This next question may be more relevant for someone with your level of experience. How do you determine whether a product rejected by one retail channel could succeed in another? It seems more like an art than a science.
Bharwani: Yes, I would agree with that. It comes down to understanding the customer. In my current role, we interact closely with buyers and know what they are looking for. From past experience, I have also learned what tends to work and what does not.
When I evaluate cancelled or excess inventory, I consider whether it aligns with our customer base. Some retailers focus on basic items, while others look for more fashion-forward or higher-quality pieces. I assess what our customers currently want, whether the product fits that demand, and whether the pricing makes sense.
Profitability is also critical. Even if a product is appealing, it must still be viable from a business perspective. All of these factors, customer demand, product fit, and pricing, have to be balanced. If the numbers do not work, it does not make sense to pursue the opportunity.
Jacobsen: That is all I have time for today. Thank you very much.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/17
Karel Bouley is a trailblazing LGBTQ broadcaster, entertainer, and activist. As half of the first openly gay duo in U.S. drive-time radio, he made history while shaping California law on LGBTQ wrongful death cases. Karel rose to prominence as the #1 talk show host on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and KGO AM 810 in San Francisco, later expanding to Free Speech TV and the Karel Cast podcast. His work spans journalism (HuffPost, The Advocate, Billboard), television (CNN, MSNBC), and the music industry. A voting member of NARAS, GALECA, and SAG-AFTRA, Karel now lives and creates in Las Vegas.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Karel Bouley examine the global politics of LGBTQ rights, from Iran, India, and Russia to Christian nationalism in the United States and Britain. Bouley blends humour, outrage, and personal experience to argue that anti-LGBTQ campaigns are political tools rather than moral causes. At the same time, Jacobsen contributes international reporting and context from Ukraine. Together, they discuss media manipulation, generational change, religious rhetoric, digital harassment, and the human cost of state-backed prejudice. The exchange frames queer news not as abstract ideology but as a matter of dignity, safety, visibility, and solidarity across borders.
Karel Bouley: All right, we are doing this Gay Week. We have Scott Jacobsen, a journalist reporting from Ukraine. We are going to discuss global developments affecting the LGBTQ community. There is so much happening in the world that it is difficult to focus on anything else, but here we are. All right, Scott, you sent some stories. How are you doing over there in Ukraine?
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We are doing well. There has been less bombing this week, which is always good. That may reflect a shift in strategy toward the Eastern Front. No one can read Vladimir Putin’s mind; it is a black box, but that seems to be the current indication. So there are fewer air raid alarms, and everyone is happy.
Bouley: Yes, I am happy if there are fewer air raid alarms. All right, let us get right to it. Ask me anything.
Jacobsen: What are your thoughts on a New York Post report in which President Trump has apparently been briefed that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is probably gay, framed as intelligence in the context of Iran’s anti-LGBT repression?
Bouley: First of all, I want to know what being “probably gay” means. I have been gay for a long time, and I am certainly gay, so I am curious what “probably gay” means.
It sounds like conjecture. Is he gay? No one is going to say. If he came out, he would be thrown off a building. No one will say whether he is or is not. I am not sure why Trump would need to know that or how he would use it, since he tends to use everything to his advantage.
If he were to use it to have him deposed, removed, or executed for being against the system—remember, the Supreme Leader represents the ultimate authority in a theocracy. I am not sure whether they formally call it Sharia law there, but he is the ultimate religious leader. They could not have a gay Ayatollah, although I think it would be ironic.
The government consists of hardliners. We do not know where this wounded man is. We know he was injured. He is a wounded, presumably gay man. We do not know where he is, and that is likely intentional. If his location were known, he could be targeted.
We can assume he is surrounded by hardliners—people from his father’s circle, aligned with him, and possibly even more extreme. No one in that group would accept him being gay. If he is gay, he will not be the Supreme Leader. He would be killed or exiled. Alternatively, given current instability, they might ignore it to maintain continuity under the Khamenei name.
Trump would likely use this information against him. He is not pro-gay, despite claiming to be. He recently said he is very pro-gay and even referenced using the “gay national anthem,” like YMCA. That claim is misguided; culturally, many would point to “It’s Raining Men.” In any case, his record is anti-gay and anti-trans, and he would likely use this information to harm Iran’s leadership.
If he promoted this narrative within Iran, it could destabilize the leadership quickly. However, that creates a risk. Right now, they are dealing with a known figure. If he were removed, it could create a larger problem because no one knows who would succeed him.
Bouley: All right, we are going to talk more about global issues affecting the LGBTQ community with Scott Jacobsen, who is LGBTQ-adjacent and currently in Ukraine. We will be back right after this.
Jacobsen: We have a report from France 24 that the trans community has been alarmed as India moves to curb LGBTQ rights through a proposed amendment to transgender law. This has sparked fear and anger among LGBTQ groups, who warn that it could undo hard-won legal gains and remove the right to self-identify. The same fight, in a different country. What are your thoughts?
Bouley: It is odd that this is happening in India. While the country has historically been anti-LGBTQ, there have been some gains, particularly in larger cities, where there has been a visible trans community.
This may sound surprising, but that community has existed for a long time. Trans individuals—often people assigned male at birth who identify and live as women, with or without surgery—have even had established cultural recognition. In some ways, trans people in India have had an easier social position than gay men and women because of how society has perceived them.
That is why this shift is unusual. It suggests the influence of external political rhetoric, particularly anti-trans narratives emerging from the United States. It seems likely that individuals within India’s political system are adopting these views and promoting them.
Historically, trans and drag communities in India have been more tolerated than gay men and lesbians. So targeting them now appears out of character. At the same time, India has seen gradual progress on LGBTQ rights, including legal challenges related to same-sex marriage. These gains were hard fought, through courts and sustained activism.
There is a large LGBTQ population in India, as expected in a country of over a billion people. Many are working to bring the country toward more modern standards of equality. The current backlash, particularly against trans individuals, explains why there is significant concern.
Previously, while not fully accepted, trans communities were not systematically targeted. Authorities focused more on gay and lesbian spaces. Now that focus appears to be shifting. This raises the question: why now?
It may reflect a harder political line within the government, combined with imported anti-trans rhetoric. It appears that political actors are observing these narratives internationally and adopting them domestically.
India remains a deeply religious society, and discrimination is often tied to religious or cultural frameworks. Violence against LGBTQ individuals, including trans people, has occurred, as it has elsewhere. The difference is that some legal protections exist in places like the United States, whereas protections in India remain more limited.
Ultimately, this may be part of a broader political trend. Policies in India can shift over time, sometimes reversing within a few years. Whether this change will persist remains to be seen.
Bouley: It seems they are following a broader anti-trans political trend. While trans communities have historically been more tolerated than gay men or women, discrimination can emerge whenever political or religious conditions allow it.
Jacobsen: Turning to another case: The Barents Observer reports that a journalist in the Russian Federation has been fined for alleged “LGBT propaganda.” Journalist Olesia Krivtsova was fined 200,000 rubles for promoting LGBTQ issues in media or online platforms. This reflects an intensification of restrictions on even neutral or factual reporting about LGBTQ topics. What are your thoughts?
Bouley: My first instinct is that if you are a journalist covering LGBTQ issues in Russia, you should leave the country and report from abroad. Putin has made his position clear. He has zero tolerance for anything perceived as pro-gay. There have been instances where public figures were threatened with arrest for expressing pro-LGBTQ views. So, first, this is not surprising. Second, she is fortunate that the penalty is only a fine, given that harsher consequences are possible. Third, it highlights how a government can be at odds with segments of its population.
Younger Russians, based on polling, tend to have different priorities. LGBTQ issues are not central concerns for many of them. However, the government is dominated by older leadership, including Putin and his allies, who maintain strong anti-LGBTQ positions. There is a generational divide. For example, there have been spaces—particularly in the past—where LGBTQ communities gathered openly, suggesting that younger populations are not uniformly aligned with state policy.
Journalists inside Russia face a difficult situation. They know there is an audience interested in LGBTQ issues, and they understand the importance of reporting on them. At the same time, they are aware that doing so may result in fines, legal consequences, or worse. Journalism often involves reporting despite personal risk. If there is a story, it is told.
In Russia, even mentioning LGBTQ topics can be interpreted as “propaganda.” Simply referencing these issues, even in neutral reporting, can trigger penalties under current laws. Journalists understand the risks but continue their work regardless. Given the government’s clear stance, they cannot be surprised by the consequences, even if those consequences are unjust.
The broader regional context reinforces this hostility. In places like Chechnya, there have been severe reports of persecution against suspected gay individuals. This reflects a wider environment in which LGBTQ people face significant danger.
Journalists are aware of the government’s position. Even factual reporting—such as noting that LGBTQ individuals held a public event—can be interpreted as promoting prohibited content. Under the current regime, any discussion of LGBTQ topics may be treated as propaganda.
Jacobsen: A footnote in the same article notes that she was placed on Russia’s wanted list and arrested in absentia in 2022, with criminal proceedings launched. This has been ongoing. She is not in Russia; she is reporting from abroad.
Bouley: That is a smart decision.
Jacobsen: The charges included “justifying terrorism” and “discrediting the army.” She fled in 2023, evading security services while under house arrest. A very strategic move.
Bouley: Yes, she was careful. She probably disguised herself and left. Russian security services are not particularly effective. They operate under a rigid hierarchy, often following orders from authoritarian leadership, whether or not they agree with them.
Russia will face a turning point after Vladimir Putin dies. That moment will determine whether the country continues under hardline leadership or moves in a more progressive direction. If power transfers to another authoritarian figure—perhaps from the military—anti-LGBTQ policies may persist. However, if public sentiment begins to influence governance more directly, change is possible.
Russia has a population of approximately 143 million people. Statistically, that includes millions of LGBTQ individuals. The state can attempt to suppress or legislate against them, but they will remain part of society. Eventually, the country will have to reckon with that reality.
Change is most likely to occur as younger generations assume positions of influence. Across many countries, younger people tend to place less emphasis on sexual orientation as a defining issue. Their priorities often center on economic stability, housing, and long-term security. This generational shift has the potential to reshape social attitudes relatively quickly, even in countries such as Russia or China.
That said, there will always be factions that hold extreme views—nationalists, authoritarian sympathizers, and others. However, they do not represent the entirety of younger populations. A substantial portion of society is largely indifferent to LGBTQ issues in the sense that they do not see them as central political concerns.
LGBTQ communities are often targeted because they are visible and politically convenient to marginalize. As a result, even neutral reporting on these communities can provoke strong reactions from authorities. This is why it is important that journalists continue their work, even under difficult circumstances.
I am glad she is no longer in the country, and I hope she continues reporting. There is a clear need for that work. LGBTQ individuals in Russia need visibility, representation, and a sense of connection. Journalists play a critical role in providing that.
Jacobsen: Some people point to reports of religious revivalism in the United States.
Bouley: Yes—particularly Christian nationalism.
Jacobsen: Researcher Ryan Burge, a Christian professor who studies these trends, shows that across generations—from the Greatest Generation to Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z—the proportion of individuals identifying as having no religious affiliation increases consistently with each successive generation.
Bouley: Yes, it does, and I am glad about that. I have been an agnostic or atheist since about eighth grade. I read the Bible twice and questioned it immediately. I did not accept the idea that it was the literal word of God. Even if a god exists, that does not mean such a text was written by that being. So I reached that conclusion early, and I am glad that others are reaching similar conclusions now.
This trend is especially visible among younger generations. However, at the same time, Christian nationalism is gaining traction among some young people through organizations like Turning Point USA and similar campus-based groups. They are actively promoting these ideas, and it is concerning.
There is an ongoing tension around free speech. Some argue that all speech should be protected, while others believe certain forms of speech can be harmful to society. That balance has always been difficult to maintain.
We are also seeing cultural conflicts play out publicly. For example, parody and satire—long protected forms of expression—are being challenged by individuals and groups who feel targeted. However, parody remains legally protected.
More broadly, this reflects a recurring pattern: when individuals or groups challenge authority or push back against dominant narratives, those in power or those being criticized often claim victimhood. This dynamic is not limited to one country; it appears globally, including in discussions around LGBTQ rights.
There are numerous public incidents where initial narratives shift once additional evidence emerges, illustrating how quickly perceptions can be shaped and reshaped. This reinforces the importance of evidence and context in evaluating such events.
In debates around LGBTQ issues, a similar pattern appears. When LGBTQ individuals assert themselves or demand equal treatment, opposition groups sometimes frame themselves as victims. They often justify their position through religious or ideological reasoning, even when their actions marginalize others.
These dynamics highlight broader social tensions around identity, power, and cultural change. They also underscore how quickly narratives can be constructed and contested in public discourse.
Jacobsen: This pattern is also evident in the United Kingdom. Humanists UK, through its chief executive Andrew Copson, has challenged claims of a religious revival. A Bible Society report suggested such a revival, but critics argue that these claims lack strong empirical support.
In both the United States and the United Kingdom, some religious media and aligned influencers have promoted the idea of a resurgence in religiosity, often without robust evidence.
Bouley: I see this pattern repeatedly. We live in an era where facts are no longer required for claims to be presented as truth. Political figures do this regularly. Recently, there was an announcement suggesting a potential de-escalation involving Iran. Around that time, there were reports of significant financial activity in oil and stock futures markets, raising concerns about possible insider advantages. While some outlets have reported on these concerns, there is no confirmed evidence that specific individuals directly profited. Still, the sequence of events shows how narratives can influence markets.
More broadly, being gay, lesbian, or trans does not harm society. It does not affect economic conditions, fuel prices, or geopolitical conflicts. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not drivers of war, famine, or systemic instability. Yet, public discourse often treats them as if they are central problems.
This misdirection is global. In many places facing serious challenges—such as poverty, drought, or lack of infrastructure—attention is diverted toward LGBTQ issues instead of addressing fundamental needs. These narratives exaggerate the societal impact of LGBTQ people while ignoring more pressing concerns.
The claim that LGBTQ individuals harm society has been repeated for generations without evidence. If such harm were real, it would be observable. Human societies have always included LGBTQ individuals, and there is no credible evidence that their existence has caused societal collapse or major crises.
Despite this, LGBTQ communities are often portrayed as responsible for broader social problems. This portrayal benefits those promoting it. It can be used to mobilize political support, raise funds, and consolidate influence.
When examining claims of religious revival or cultural shifts, it is important to consider incentives. Organizations and movements may promote such narratives to gain visibility, resources, or political power. These claims are not always grounded in reliable data.
Religious arguments are also frequently invoked. However, interpretations vary widely. Some argue that religious teachings have been selectively interpreted or reframed over time. Others point out that historical texts do not address modern concepts of identity in the way they are discussed today.
Across different traditions—whether in Christianity, Islam, or Judaism—there are complex bodies of interpretation and commentary. These traditions are interconnected historically, but their teachings are often debated and reinterpreted in contemporary contexts.
Ultimately, narratives about LGBTQ people are often shaped less by evidence and more by social, political, or ideological goals. These narratives can be used to divide populations, reinforce authority, or redirect attention from other issues.
Claims of cultural or religious resurgence should be examined critically. When groups assert that their influence is growing, it is worth asking what purpose that claim serves and whether it aligns with empirical evidence.
Jacobsen: To your point about “there is no hate like Christian love,” I believe there is a quote—possibly apocryphal—attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche to the effect that it is not their love that prevents them from harming others, but the impotence of that love. A similar idea.
Bouley: I grow weary of it. I will be direct, and I mean this carefully. I do not care about “gay news” in the abstract. I do not care about Donald Trump, MAGA, or Vladimir Putin as individuals. I do not care about policies in isolation. What I care about are the people affected by them.
That is why I do this. I could pursue other things, but I stay with this work because I care about individuals—people in Russia, Uganda, or elsewhere who are directly impacted. Leaders come and go. Policies change. What remains constant is the effect on people’s lives.
I understand what it means to suffer discrimination for being gay, though others have endured far worse. History provides many examples. My concern is not the political cycle itself—laws being passed, repealed, and replaced—but the individuals caught within that cycle.
If discussing these issues helps someone feel less isolated, more informed, or more motivated, then it has value. If it changes a mind, encourages participation, or supports incremental progress, then it is worthwhile.
These patterns will likely persist. Even decades from now, the broader situation may not be entirely resolved. What matters is how these dynamics affect people and whether sharing these stories can provide support or encouragement.
For example, even small developments—such as limited recognition of same-sex marriages across parts of Europe—can have meaningful impact. If reporting on such changes helps someone remain hopeful or engaged, then it justifies the attention.
Otherwise, the underlying hostility will persist in various forms—whether directed at sexual orientation, nationality, or other identities. That broader pattern does not disappear, but individuals still need support within it.
I am also sorry about the recent Air Canada incident. Loss of life in such circumstances is tragic. Failures in systems such as air traffic control can have serious consequences, and those responsible must be held accountable. It is an unfortunate reminder of how systemic issues can lead to real human loss.
Jacobsen: Air Canada lost my luggage once.
Bouley: At least they did not collide with a fire truck.
Jacobsen: That is true.
Bouley: Was there any positive LGBTQ news in the United States this week? I tried to think of something, but there really was not much. Kansas has moved against transgender driver’s license gender markers. Overall, it has been a difficult week globally for LGBTQ people.
As long as Trump remains in power—and the duration is uncertain—we are likely to see a continued stream of negative developments, both in the United States and internationally. Political trends in the U.S. often influence other countries, and negative rhetoric can spread.
If there is a shift in political leadership, we may begin to see different outcomes. In France, for example, while the far right has gained ground in some smaller cities, larger urban areas have continued to support centrist and left-leaning parties. At the same time, there are broader signs of rightward political movement in countries such as Germany.
We appear to be in a pendulum phase, and currently, the movement is unfavorable for LGBTQ rights. Over time, it may shift again, but that process could take years. Progress is not guaranteed to be immediate, and it may require sustained effort before conditions improve.
Jacobsen: On a more unexpected note, someone pointed out a situation in Ukraine. Some LGBTQ individuals there, including organizers and public figures, have observed an unintended effect of the war. Certain ultra-nationalist groups—often composed of younger heterosexual men—are strongly supportive of military engagement and have gone to the front lines.
As a result, fewer of these individuals remain in cities. This has reduced some forms of harassment in urban areas. Previously, some of these groups would attend events like Kyiv Pride, photograph participants, share images online, and later use them to identify and harass individuals.
Bouley: That pattern is not unique to Ukraine. There is a growing trend globally where individuals target LGBTQ people through digital means. For example, some individuals use dating apps to identify LGBTQ users, arrange meetings under false pretenses, and then harass or assault them.
There are also cases where photos from these platforms are taken and shared in hostile online spaces to expose or target individuals. This creates a significant risk environment.
As a result, many users have adapted their behavior. On some platforms, people avoid posting identifiable photos. They may share images only after establishing some level of trust, or they use non-identifying pictures. This reflects a broader concern about privacy, safety, and potential retaliation.
These practices are not limited to one country; they are occurring in multiple regions. The combination of digital exposure and social hostility creates new vulnerabilities.
At a certain point, for some individuals, privacy becomes difficult to maintain due to the volume of images already available online. However, for many others, maintaining anonymity remains an important protective measure.
Jacobsen: The Kardashians—not the Star Trek ones, with a “K.” I remember when I was in the Canadian military, in the Navy, during basic training. I recall small, individualized instances of harassment. These are difficult to trace systematically because they often go unreported. People tend to think, “What is the point?”
Bouley: Exactly—what is the point? I have experienced many incidents myself that I never reported because I assumed nothing would come of it.
Jacobsen: It also happens within communities. There was an older man during training who made a remark—using a slur—that revealed a lot about his attitude. I am quoting for context, not endorsing the language. What stood out was the tone and intent. It left a strong impression on me.
Bouley: I understand that. I tend to respond differently. If someone uses that kind of language toward me, I treat it as a reflection of them rather than an insult. It says more about their mindset than anything else.
Jacobsen: That response comes from experience.
Bouley: Exactly. At a certain point, there is very little left that can surprise you. Repetition changes how you react. Context and delivery matter more than the words themselves.
Bouley: We will have to return to your military experience later—I am genuinely interested in hearing more about that.
Jacobsen: I would prefer to change the subject.
Bouley: Fair enough, but I am still curious.
Jacobsen: I have photos from that time.
Bouley: I can imagine.
Jacobsen: Speaking of cultural references, do you know the song “Grindin’”? It is by Clipse.
Bouley: I am not sure. Are there well-known Canadian rappers?
Jacobsen: Yes—Kardinal Offishall is one example.
Bouley: Interesting.
Jacobsen: There is a range of artists, though not all are widely recognized internationally.
Bouley: That makes sense.
Jacobsen: They have likely gone to Los Angeles and built their careers there. For example, k.d. lang and the electropop artist Peaches.
Bouley: Yes, k.d. lang—I forgot she was gay.
Jacobsen: There are also actors, such as Elliot Page.
Bouley: Right, Elliot transitioned.
Jacobsen: Yes, Elliot is Canadian as well.
Bouley: That makes sense—many Canadian artists become international stars. I was thinking more about artists who are widely known globally but whose origins are less recognized. For example, Anastacia is very popular in the UK and internationally, even though she is American. The same applies to Emeli Sandé—she is huge in the UK but far less known in the United States. Does Canada have a comparable figure—someone widely recognized elsewhere but less so domestically?
Jacobsen: You mentioned Graham Norton.
Bouley: Of course. He is well known internationally, though many Americans are less familiar with him.
Jacobsen: His talk show format is distinctive. He often hosts multiple guests at once, seated together, which creates a more conversational dynamic.
Bouley: The format evolved during COVID, and they kept some of those changes. What stands out most is the quality of the research behind the show.
Bouley: It is interesting—we discuss LGBTQ issues every week, and then I ask about Canadian LGBTQ pop stars.
Jacobsen: That may reflect Canada’s broader level of social acceptance.
Bouley: Or at least a different kind of cultural support. That was This Gay Week with Scott and me, coming from a different perspective—yours.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/16
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Irina Tsukerman on the risks and ripple effects of the current Middle East escalation and related African conflicts. Tsukerman argues that further escalation involving Iran would most likely remain within conventional military frameworks, even as U.S. force buildups preserve limited ground-related options. She warns that eastern Congo’s conflict could widen regionally, with cheap drones making violence more accessible to states and non-state actors alike. Turning to downstream consequences, she links humanitarian strain in Somalia, fertilizer bottlenecks, food-price pressure and insecurity, and African fuel-market shocks to poor planning, weak diplomacy, and overlapping disruptions across major global supply corridors.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There are reports, based on leaked intelligence and subsequent media coverage, of possible further escalation involving the United States and Israel against Iran. What appears to have been the basis for those indications? What has followed since then? What forms could any further escalation realistically take?
Irina Tsukerman: Based on current reporting, the most significant possible escalation beyond the existing air campaign would involve either attacks on additional strategic sites or some form of limited ground-related operation. However, U.S. officials have publicly signalled that they do not expect a large ground war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the United States can meet its objectives without deploying ground troops, even as additional U.S. personnel have been sent to the region.
At the time the earlier leak circulated, there was no confirmed large-scale new ground deployment. Since then, reporting has indicated a further U.S. buildup, but the numbers in circulation have varied. Some reports indicate that approximately 3,000 to 4,000 additional U.S. troops may be deployed, alongside more limited confirmed movements such as elements of the 82nd Airborne Division. Larger figures, such as 10,000 troops, appear to reflect contingency planning rather than a formally confirmed decision.
Speculation about Kharg Island has appeared in reporting due to its importance to Iranian oil exports, but there is no public confirmation that U.S. forces are being sent there. That remains within the realm of scenario planning rather than an announced operation.
Israeli operations, however, have expanded to include strikes on nuclear-related infrastructure. Israel has reported strikes on the Khondab (Arak) heavy-water facility and a yellowcake production site in Ardakan, with no immediate radiation release reported. These targets indicate a broader focus that includes elements of Iran’s nuclear program, in addition to military infrastructure.
It is less clear that there has been a definitive rhetorical shift by Prime Minister Netanyahu away from broader political objectives toward purely tactical military aims, as this characterization is not consistently supported across available reporting.
At present, there is no confirmed large-scale escalation in the form of a ground offensive. What is observable is a continued pattern of Israeli strikes on military and nuclear-related targets, alongside a gradual U.S. military buildup that preserves multiple operational options while officials continue to state that a ground deployment is not anticipated.
Operations remain limited for now, largely because the number of deployed forces is constrained. Potential escalation could include strikes on nuclear sites or efforts to degrade elements of Iran’s ballistic missile program in the Zagros region. There is also speculation about targeting additional political or government sites that have not yet been struck. However, some analysts caution that attacking such sites could be counterproductive, as they may be perceived as cultural or symbolic targets, potentially alienating segments of the Iranian population that do not support the regime.
At present, there is no clear indication of any significant deviation from the existing pattern of operations. The intensity of strikes may increase, but there is no verified evidence of new target categories or unexpected developments. As of now, nothing unusual has occurred, even as the day has progressed into the evening in Iran. Any major action, if planned, could occur overnight or early the following day, but there is no confirmed indication of such plans. If preparations are underway, they are being kept operationally discreet, and much of what is circulating publicly remains speculative.
Regarding the nature of the leak itself, it is notable that it appears directed more toward domestic or allied audiences than toward misleading Iran. Public statements, military positioning, and observable developments have already shaped Iranian awareness. The ambiguity surrounding negotiations, ceasefire discussions, and operational timelines may function more as strategic messaging than as direct deception.
The deployment of approximately 3,000 additional U.S. personnel, alongside discussions of potentially larger numbers, suggests preparation for possible escalation rather than immediate de-escalation. While smaller deployments can serve signalling or deterrent purposes, larger troop considerations typically indicate contingency planning for more kinetic scenarios.
From a strategic standpoint, such leaks aim to address domestic criticism regarding unclear objectives and communication, reinforcing cohesion among U.S. policymakers and supporters while limiting the appearance of internal division that adversarial narratives could exploit.
At the same time, signalling the possibility of major action inevitably communicates to Iran that escalation remains on the table, even if specific operational details are unclear. Given current technological capabilities, including predictive modelling and intelligence analysis, there are practical limits to the range of plausible military options. These constraints—geographic, logistical, and force-based—mean that the spectrum of potential escalation pathways is relatively narrow and, to some extent, predictable by all sides.
One possible interpretation is that the intent is to heighten Iranian uncertainty and induce caution by signalling that escalation could take multiple forms. However, broadly signalling “major surprises” risks undermining operational surprise. Even without specific details, such messaging encourages open-source speculation and scenario-building, which can narrow the range of perceived possibilities rather than obscure them.
There is no credible public evidence that chemical weapons or unconventional crowd-control systems are being considered in this context, and introducing such speculation would not be consistent with established U.S. or Israeli doctrine. More plausibly, the range of options remains within conventional military frameworks: continued airstrikes, expanded targeting of military or nuclear infrastructure, maritime operations, or limited ground-related contingencies.
If such leaks intend to generate confusion, their effectiveness is questionable. Public reporting and expert analysis already track likely escalation pathways, and excessive signalling may instead clarify constraints. A simpler explanation is often more accurate: the United States is still evaluating options and has not finalized a single course of action. This aligns with current reporting that additional troop deployments are intended to provide flexibility rather than signal a confirmed ground invasion.
Operationally, it is also clear that achieving stated objectives—such as degrading Iran’s missile and military capabilities—cannot be accomplished within a matter of days. U.S. officials themselves have indicated the timeline is measured in weeks, not immediate resolution. This implies that some level of escalation or sustained operations remains likely, even if the exact form is undecided.
Political constraints further narrow available options. The administration must balance demonstrating resolve with limits on time, resources, and domestic political tolerance. These factors inherently restrict the range of viable strategies.
From this perspective, the most grounded interpretation is not a highly coordinated deception campaign, but rather an evolving situation in which planning remains fluid. The emphasis on messaging and public discourse may reflect domestic political considerations as much as strategic signalling toward Iran.
Jacobsen: The United Nations has warned that the conflict in eastern Congo risks escalating through the use of heavy weapons and, more importantly, drones. This is not something that Western North American media often emphasizes when covering wars that receive limited attention, particularly conflicts involving African states, militias, or other armed groups. Yet drones are now easily obtainable and relatively inexpensive, which means that not only wealthy states but also poorer states and non-state actors can acquire them.
Because eastern Congo is rich in minerals, the growing use of offensive drones and heavy weapons poses a danger to civilians. Vivian van de Perre, the United Nations’ acting top envoy for Congo, stated at the Security Council on March 26 that, despite the withdrawal of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and their allies from the town of Uvira under international pressure in January, clashes continue in North Kivu and South Kivu between M23 and Congolese government forces. She said that the situation in South Kivu remains tense and that renewed hostilities have expanded and shifted the front lines, including toward Burundi’s border, increasing the risk of a regional conflagration. What are your thoughts on this conflict, its potential for regional expansion, and, most interestingly, the use of drones? Drones may seem like a footnote, but they are not. They are now appearing across at least three active conflict zones.
Tsukerman: I will start with the war itself. This is one of the wars Trump claimed he would settle permanently—one of eight, nine, or ten, depending on which version of his statements one uses. Clearly, he has not. What has been unfolding is a form of asymmetrical warfare, hybrid conflict, or war of attrition that has persisted for years, in part because of the involvement of non-state actors, who are much harder to bring to the table for any agreement likely to hold. More importantly, the underlying issues involving both non-state actors and regional tensions have not been resolved by anyone. Mediation efforts have also been inconsistent and ad hoc: they begin, fade, tensions rise again, and the United States returns to the table.
Another problem is the shortage of Africa-focused diplomats. The United States has an Africa special envoy, Massad Boulos, who has business experience in Africa, but his knowledge of a continent of 54 countries is necessarily limited. There is simply a shortage of resources for sustained diplomacy, mediation, and conflict resolution across a range of diverse and complex crises. It is therefore not surprising that this issue continues to intensify. The African Union has not been especially effective, and its attention has been divided across multiple major conflicts, including the civil war in Sudan, rising tensions in Ethiopia, and the possibility of renewed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. There is no alternative power center currently capable of sustained mediation, nor has there been sufficient serious international commitment.
The United States, moreover, has been more focused on securing critical minerals than on resolving the underlying political and security issues. Its mediation efforts are therefore tactical rather than comprehensive. The aim is less to address the conflict durably than to protect access to mineral resources and ensure that extraction arrangements can proceed. That greatly limits what the United States can accomplish in this context.
The expansion of the conflict contributes to growing destabilization across the region. Russia has become increasingly embedded in Congo and nearby areas, competing for access to natural resources while also advancing anti-American, anti-French, and broader anti-Western narratives. Various governments and organizations are helping to fuel the conflict, while often overlooking the fact that Congo has not simply been a passive victim of Rwanda-backed rebel aggression or jihadist activity. There is also clear potential for spillover into Burundi, and related regional tensions heighten that risk. Burundi itself could become the next flashpoint, further widening the conflict.
Burundi could become a potential flashpoint. There are additional groups, movements, and ethnic conflicts in surrounding regions that could amplify instability across both West and East Africa. There is also a concerning convergence of jihadist groups from both western and eastern parts of the continent moving toward central Africa. None of this is promising for regional security, human rights, anti-corruption efforts, or the management of refugee flows into the Middle East and Europe. These are all developments that require close attention.
As for the expansion of drone warfare, this should not come as a surprise. Drones are becoming cheaper, easier to manufacture, and increasingly effective at lower operational levels. As a result, more actors—including non-state actors—are gaining access to them. This is no longer limited to large military organizations or even major criminal networks. Smaller groups, private actors, and loosely organized entities can now acquire or produce such systems.
This creates a high risk of attribution confusion, accidental escalation, and spillover incidents, alongside more traditional forms of conflict between state and non-state actors with defined interests. The operational environment becomes more fluid, unpredictable, and difficult to manage or resolve.
The proliferation of drones reflects a broader “democratization” of weaponizable technology. If one wants a parallel, social media provides a useful example: tools that were widely accessible and seemingly benign have enabled polarization, disinformation, fraud, and, in some cases, incitement to violence. Now imagine similar accessibility applied to lethal and surveillance technologies, used by actors with comparable motivations. The consequences could be far more severe.
Conventional intelligence, law enforcement, and military frameworks are not fully equipped to address this shift. It will require a fundamental rethinking—not only of counter-drone capabilities and military responses, but also of how conflicts originate, evolve, and are managed in an environment where advanced technologies are widely accessible.
Jacobsen: Could you give a brief commentary on the downstream effects? UNICEF has noted that the war involving Iran could worsen conditions for children in Somalia. There are also reports that it may contribute to a global fertilizer shortage, driving up food prices. Kenya’s flour industry is reportedly losing millions of dollars weekly, while African fuel markets are experiencing shockwaves. At the same time, Gulf investors may continue funding African renewable energy despite the conflict. These appear to be wide-ranging geopolitical ripple effects. What is your assessment?
Tsukerman: Two primary factors are making these consequences more severe than they need to be. First, reductions in U.S. humanitarian aid to parts of Africa have exacerbated already fragile conditions. While other actors, such as Turkey, remain involved in humanitarian efforts in places like Somalia, their capacity is limited, and their involvement introduces additional geopolitical complexities. Turkey itself faces economic constraints, and its support is partly dependent on partners such as Qatar, which may also be affected by broader energy and financial disruptions.
Second, the underlying security situation in Somalia is already highly unstable. Even without external shocks, extremist activity and weak governance complicate aid delivery. Any additional disruption—economic or logistical—will further strain humanitarian operations and worsen conditions over time.
More broadly, many of the emerging shortages—whether in fertilizers, food, or supply chains—are not solely the result of absolute scarcity, but of insufficient preparation. Sudden conflict, combined with unclear strategic objectives, has limited states’ and markets’ ability to adjust in advance. With better planning, alternative suppliers, diversified supply routes, and pre-arranged contracts, some of these disruptions could have been mitigated.
For example, Morocco is one of the world’s leading fertilizer producers and represents a viable alternative supply source. There is also fertilizer production in Latin America and, under normal conditions, in Ukraine. However, scaling production, securing contracts, and rerouting supply chains all require time and advanced coordination. Without prior planning, bottlenecks are inevitable.
Overlapping disruptions compound the broader issue: instability in the Black Sea region affecting Ukrainian exports, ongoing attacks on infrastructure in the Gulf, and risks to energy flows through critical chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz. When multiple major supply corridors are strained simultaneously, cascading shortages become much more likely.
At this stage, the priority should be to strengthen defences around key production regions, stabilize supply chains, and accelerate the adoption of alternative sourcing and delivery mechanisms. However, much of the public discourse remains focused on the symptoms—such as rising prices and industry losses—rather than on coordinated logistical solutions. In many respects, this is a failure of planning and rapid response. While some of these outcomes were avoidable, the immediate task now is to adapt quickly and manage the consequences through more effective coordination and forward planning.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/15
ADRA Ukraine is the national office of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. Established in 1993, it delivers assistance simultaneously in emergency, early recovery, development under neutral, impartial, independent principles with UN agencies, institutional and private donors, governments of the countries across the world (Canada, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic etc).
Since 2022, ADRA’s network reports assisting 3.7 million people in Ukraine. Program Director Maryna Savchuk leads ADRA Ukraine’s portfolio design and delivery—coordinating grants, donor relations, and inter-agency partnerships—while stewarding access and compliance. She has represented ADRA in meetings with Canada, Sweden, Japan on humanitarian and Denmark on reconstruction and development priorities as needs shift.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Among cash, winterization, WASH, shelter, or MHPSS, what are urgent priorities?
Maryna Savchuk: As the winter is coming and the intensification of attacks on Ukrainian energy system is desperately increased, matching the negative record from 2022, Winterisation as a part of Shelter activities is in priority. This year ADRA Ukraine was the first NGO in Ukraine, providing solid fuel distribution (funds by GAC), which was highly estimated by UN, and showed as the example. Also, for this activity we have the funds from Germany and Japan both for individuals and IDP`s collective sites distribution.
Jacobsen: How do neutrality, impartiality, and independence shape field access and community acceptance?
Savchuk: Neutrality, impartiality, and independence directly influence ADRA Ukraine’s ability to access communities and maintain their trust.
Even though ADRA works only in government-controlled areas, neutrality helps avoid association with political or military actors, reducing risks and supporting safe access in sensitive communities.
Impartiality builds trust, as assistance is provided solely based on needs — transparently and equally for all. This reduces tension within communities and facilitates cooperation with local authorities.
Independence ensures that decisions on programming, beneficiary selection, and delivery modalities are made exclusively for humanitarian reasons, not influenced by local interests.
Together, these principles ensure community acceptance of ADRA Ukraine and support stable, safe access for project implementation.
Jacobsen: What safeguards protect staff and beneficiaries?
Savchuk: ADRA UA has key safeguards in place — a strong Safeguarding Policy, safe recruitment, mandatory training, clear Codes of Conduct, and confidential reporting channels — to protect both staff and beneficiaries. Safeguarding is extremely important for us, and we take these responsibilities very seriously. Every project we implement includes safeguarding requirements and risk-mitigation measures from the very beginning. The Safeguarding Specialist ensures that all these measures work in practice: provides training, monitors compliance, conducts risk assessments, and manages reports safely and confidentially to maintain a truly safe and accountable environment.Where do partnerships, e.g., WFP/UNICEF pipelines, improve speed or quality?
Jacobsen: How are duty-of-care and psychosocial support integrated for staff?
Savchuk: ADRA Ukraine has very strong MHPSS team, who provides the free individual sessions to our employees on demand. Also, we have the mandatory Plan of mental health on the working place – is the weekly training sessions for prevention burnouts.
Jacobsen: What contingency plans exist for power, fuel, and logistics disruptions?
Savchuk: During the writing every Project Proposal there is the risk matrix as the mandatory part of it, where all this issues are mentioned. According to the power – all our offices, warehouses, distribution points have the generators, ecoflows systems and starlinks to work in the blackout situation. For the fuel disruptions we have the several fuel suppliers contracted with the additional reserves. According logistics – planning alternative delivery routes and using different transport modes depending on road and security conditions, coordinating with local authorities and partners to ensure community access even when logistics are disrupted.
Jacobsen: How do you communicate service suspensions transparently?
Savchuk: In ADRA Ukraine the system of communication regarding any changes, suspection developed within:
- Inside organisation to provide the information to all staff members, including call-center
- Every project manager provide clear information on the dates, components, areas of assistance to beneficiaries and local authorities through different channels of communication (social media, site, posters, local groups etc.)
- On the stage of project writing the exit strategy and sustainable approach are mandatory, so even if there is the end of assistance by one project we are trying to redirect our beneficiaries or to other ADRA`s projects, or to other NGOs.
Jacobsen: In the future, what evidence might indicate ADRA Ukraine should rebalance from emergency relief toward early recovery?
Savchuk: Ukraine has the unique context. With still the longest frontline in the world and very intensified interventions, record massive missile attacks with the newest weapon, our country operating in development process. And from 2023 the process of recovery was started. And ADRA Ukraine is involved for that. We have several projects on rehabilitation of social and critical infrastructure, HEALTH and educational institutions, capacity building, democratic initiatives. Moreover, ADRA Ukraine provides holistic approach between emergency and development programs with the strong referral system.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Maryna.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/14
Daria Furtak is a Ukrainian Canadian student leader and current President of the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK), a national body founded in 1953 to coordinate Ukrainian student organizations across Canada. She began in community work as Director of Events and later President of the Ukrainian Students’ Club at the University of Ottawa, rebuilding programming after COVID disruptions and reviving legacy fundraisers such as Zabavas and caroling. Originally from the Toronto area, she sought community in Ottawa while advocating practical support for Ukrainians affected by Russia’s war. Her leadership emphasizes peer collaboration, transparent decision-making, and systems that outlast student turnover.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Daria Furtak, President of SUSK, about moving from local club organizing in Ottawa to national student leadership. Furtak describes rebuilding Ukrainian student life after COVID by restarting regular events, then restoring legacy fundraisers like Zabavas and caroling. Nationally, she prioritizes stronger relationships with campus clubs, standardized donor and sponsor tracking, and better institutional memory amid rapid turnover. She frames titles as symbolic and insists leadership is service among peers. A major ongoing challenge is high international tuition for Ukrainian newcomers, requiring sustained advocacy with universities and community partners, and transparent, collaborative decision-making.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How did you become involved in SUSK? What drew you to senior leadership, and what have been the highlights of your tenure?
Daria Furtak: I became involved with SUSK somewhat by accident. I was serving as president of the Ukrainian Students’ Club at the University of Ottawa. Before that, I was the director of events. I joined near the end of my second year because I wanted to connect with other Ukrainians in the Ottawa area. I come from the Toronto area, where the Ukrainian community is large and well established.
When I moved to Ottawa for university, I felt that sense of community was missing. I wanted to connect with people who shared my culture and language. This was also during a period when the war in Ukraine was ongoing, so advocacy and practical support for newly arrived Ukrainians in the Ottawa area became important to me – moving from events leadership to president was a natural progression.
We began with a team of about six people. When I became president, we brought in additional members. Working at the local level made clear how important national organizations are. After the COVID period, the club went through a difficult phase, and rebuilding required resources, tools, and connections. SUSK supported us by providing guidance, event frameworks, and access to broader networks that helped with panels and collaboration with other organizations.
When the opportunity arose to apply for a national role, I applied for VP National. No one ran for president, so I stepped forward. The transition was organic but also intentional. I was ready to take on the responsibility.
The main highlight this year has been working with a largely new team. Only two board members continued from the previous year. The transition was challenging. We needed to rebuild internal processes while maintaining momentum. For me, it was also a significant shift, as I moved from local leadership to a national role without prior service on SUSK.
The highlight has been seeing new board members fully embrace their responsibilities. They have demonstrated initiative, creativity, and resilience. They have tested ideas, learned from mistakes, and improved. Their interest in serving on future SUSK boards gives me confidence in the organization’s continuity.
Jacobsen: A recurring issue in student leadership is the short life cycle of institutional memory. Undergraduate leadership turns over quickly, and transitions are rarely smooth. You mentioned the difficult period around COVID. How do you manage the usual institutional-knowledge challenges of student organizations while also dealing with disruption on the scale of the pandemic?
Furtak: We are volunteers and students managing coursework and exams. The titles carry responsibility, but the structural constraints are real. Ultimately, my favorite part of this work is that I am collaborating with friends and with my community to make things easier for other students.
With the Ukrainian Students’ Club at the University of Ottawa, I was involved during the period when we were emerging from the COVID disruption. The pandemic affected all aspects of student life. In-person activities were suspended, and Ottawa, like many cities worldwide, experienced significant shutdowns. Student organizations were particularly affected because their work depends on in-person engagement.
Before COVID, the club had several longstanding legacy events. These included annual caroling, which served as our largest fundraiser, and two Zabavas each year. The Zabavas were important community gatherings that kept young people connected and contributed significantly to fundraising. We also held regular smaller events throughout the year.
After in-person activities resumed, there had been a long gap without events. When I stepped into the role of director of events, I realized that no events had been held for over a year, despite campus reopening. I focused on what I could do within my role: reestablish programming.
We began with smaller, consistent activities. The priority was regularity. We aimed to host something every two weeks. Sometimes that meant organizing a group skate on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. Other times, it meant hosting a small game night or cultural gathering. The emphasis was on rebuilding engagement gradually.
Over time, we successfully reinstated our larger legacy events, including Zabavas and caroling. The club continues to organize these activities. Although I now serve on the SUSK board, I remain in Ottawa and still attend club events when I can.
At the national level with SUSK, the organization was also navigating the aftermath of COVID. The recovery period extended beyond the formal end of restrictions. One of our major priorities has been strengthening organizational fundamentals.
This included improving relationships with local clubs. Rather than approaching clubs primarily with requests and administrative demands, we worked to ensure we were providing meaningful support. We aimed to build relationships based on trust, where clubs felt comfortable sharing both successes and challenges. Supporting them through difficulties is central to our role.
We also focused on outreach to clubs that had been operating independently or at a distance from the national body. Some were functioning in relative isolation. We examined why they were hesitant to engage and worked to rebuild those connections. Several clubs have since become more actively involved.
Another operational improvement involved updating how we track donors, sponsors, and community partners. Standardizing and strengthening those systems has been part of a broader effort to stabilize the organization’s internal structure.
COVID contributed to organizational strain, but it also exposed structural weaknesses that needed attention. This year, with a largely new board, we made a deliberate effort to address those issues comprehensively so that future teams would inherit clearer systems and stronger foundations.
Jacobsen: You mentioned earlier that titles are largely symbolic. That observation is accurate. They may not feel symbolic for the first few months. At first, the role can feel significant and elevated. Leadership positions can create a sense of authority that feels larger than life. In political systems, we see examples of individuals who attempt to entrench themselves in power by changing rules to remain indefinitely. That is obviously not the context here, but it raises an important point about how titles can affect perception. Do you have further reflections on the symbolic nature of leadership titles and how that translates into your daily responsibilities?
Furtak: Every day, I work with my team, and they work with me. We share the same purpose: supporting students across Canada. I approach leadership with the understanding that I am not above anyone on my team. We are not above local clubs, and we are not above any individual student who is not part of an organization. We are all students. We are all young people figuring out our strengths and interests.
There are days when I do not have the answer. There are moments when I am wrong or unsure of the best course of action. What I value most about this team is that, although there were initial nerves as we stepped into new roles, they now have the confidence to propose ideas and take initiative. They know I will support them. They are capable leaders who are growing into strong individuals.
The title itself does not define the relationship. Whether I serve as president or someone else holds a different role, we remain peers and friends. In student life, becoming overly focused on titles does not create a healthy environment. It shifts attention away from the mission. When leadership becomes about status rather than service, it undermines positive outcomes.
Jacobsen: Leadership also raises the question of who ultimately benefits: the individual or the community. Leadership styles often reflect generational context. What may have worked fifty years ago may not function the same way today. Historical figures such as Winston Churchill are often studied for their leadership during crisis, yet their style was shaped by their specific moment in history.
You are leading within a different generational context. Students today are navigating different pressures and expectations. How do you approach leadership in practical terms? If a team member proposes an idea that you believe is flawed, how do you balance honesty with maintaining respect and friendship? How do you provide firm feedback while preserving trust?
Furtak: From the beginning, my team understood that I was learning alongside them. Typically, presidents have served on SUSK for at least one year before stepping into the role. That was not the case for me. The circumstances that led to my presidency were unique. I was transparent about that.
At the same time, I recognized that everyone on the team was learning as well. During the first two months, we were collectively focused on understanding what information and institutional knowledge from previous years needed to be preserved. Once we established that foundation, we could determine our own goals, identify what we wanted to change, and define the direction we wanted to pursue.
Because of that foundation, from the beginning there were many moments when we were on calls saying, “None of us knows what to do in this situation.” We contacted previous boards and relied on our broader network for guidance. In some cases, no one had a clear answer. The challenges we faced were not necessarily the result of a poor transition. In several instances, the issue simply had not been addressed by prior boards.
That is partly a consequence of COVID and, more broadly, the reality that organizational restructuring is difficult. It requires time, energy, and sustained focus. Toward the end of a term, it is understandable that leaders may hesitate to undertake structural reform.
Working through those challenges together strengthened the team. When we solved problems collectively, it built trust. As a result, conversations about ideas and feedback became much easier. Disagreement does not feel confrontational. Instead of “calling someone out,” we say, “Let us reconsider this,” or “Let us break this down.” Through discussion, we usually arrive at a stronger alternative.
I deeply value this team. I did not know most of them before joining the board. We are a national team. Two members are based in Alberta, two at the University of Saskatchewan, and others are in different provinces. When we began working together, I had never met some of them in person. We had to build trust deliberately.
From the outset, I emphasized honesty and transparency. I asked them to be open with me and with one another. Now conversations feel natural. We speak as colleagues and as friends. Sometimes one of us is right; sometimes one of us is not. What matters is understanding the reasoning behind an idea and improving it together.
Jacobsen: The Ukrainian community in Canada is substantial. Canada is home to more than 1.3 million people of Ukrainian descent, and it has one of the largest Ukrainian diasporas in the world. That broader community context shapes our work. How does the Ukrainian community reach out to you as a student leader, whether with requests or offers of support? And how do you reach out to them when you need assistance, particularly in the post-COVID context?
Furtak: The structure of our community makes communication more straightforward. SUSK serves as the national body representing Ukrainian student organizations. Local clubs are affiliated with us. From an external perspective, if someone wants to connect with Ukrainian students, they often contact SUSK. We then connect them with the relevant local club leadership.
Conversely, if a local club needs support or coordination at the national level, it works through SUSK That structure creates clarity. People understand that SUSK represents Ukrainian students nationally.
We also operate within a broader ecosystem that includes organizations such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). The UCC has a national office and local branches across Canada, and SUSK is one of its member organizations. That layered structure—national, regional, and local—creates multiple points of connection. Community events organized through bodies like the UCC and its branches help maintain strong relationships.
Another important factor is institutional legacy. SUSK has existed for decades. Many partnerships are longstanding. In many cases, we are not building relationships from scratch. We are continuing collaborations that have existed for years. Sometimes a community partner reaches out because they have worked with SUSK for twenty years. That continuity strengthens coordination between students and the broader Ukrainian Canadian community.
Community partners know that when a new president or alumni director takes office, outreach will follow. There is continuity in that expectation. When they receive a call from SUSK, they understand the purpose. That continuity exists because SUSK has operated for over 70 years. Many current leaders in the broader Ukrainian Canadian community were once involved in SUSK themselves. Some served on boards; others participated in student clubs. Those intergenerational connections strengthen coordination at every level. SUSK fits naturally into the broader community structure because of that legacy and because the community is already highly interconnected.
Jacobsen: In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and initiated conflict in eastern Ukraine. In 2022, the full-scale invasion expanded the war dramatically. Those events led to significant internal displacement and international migration, including to countries with large Ukrainian diasporas such as Canada. Are there specific initiatives, programs, or partnerships that support Ukrainians arriving in Canada as they train, integrate, and rebuild their lives?
Furtak: We have seen a substantial wave of newcomers. It has also been meaningful to observe how established Ukrainian Canadians—many of whom are three to five generations removed from earlier immigration waves—have responded in support.
There are a range of programs available, though there is still room for improvement. On the federal level, Canada introduced the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), which provided temporary residence and work or study permits for Ukrainians fleeing the war. Community organizations, including the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), have supported newcomers by providing guidance on documentation, application processes, and deadlines.
Language acquisition is another crucial factor. To transition from temporary status to permanent residency in Canada, applicants must meet language requirements in English or French. Community organizations and volunteers have offered language instruction and support to help newcomers meet those benchmarks. That support is essential for long-term integration.
Post-secondary education is a major issue. Students who do not yet have permanent residency are typically classified as international students and are therefore charged international tuition rates. Those rates can be extremely high, often ranging from tens of thousands of dollars per year. Some universities have created tuition exemptions, scholarships, or special funding pathways for Ukrainian newcomer students. However, there remains significant inconsistency across institutions. Given the circumstances of displacement, many believe further policy adjustments are warranted.
At the national level, this remains an ongoing priority for our team. We are examining advocacy pathways and institutional partnerships that could expand access to more equitable tuition arrangements.
Beyond formal programs, the strength of the existing Ukrainian Canadian community plays a central role. Community networks assist with housing, employment, mentorship, and social integration. That informal support infrastructure has been one of the most significant resources available to newcomers.
Furtak: We continue to organize events at every level, including through local student clubs, to create opportunities for interaction and connection. The need is significant. It may never be fully met, but we are working consistently to address it. There is always room for improvement.
Jacobsen: What emotional hurdles have you had to overcome? And what intellectual challenges have required more time to resolve or required you to rely on others with specific expertise?
Furtak: In SUSK, the primary challenge has been turnover. That is common in student organizations and not unique to us. Leadership cycles are short, and continuity requires deliberate effort.
We also faced challenges with legacy projects. There were longstanding initiatives that carried expectations of revival or continuation, while at the same time our board had its own priorities. Balancing inherited responsibilities with new goals required careful planning.
Another major challenge involved core organizational systems. For example, when one of my team members onboarded, we discovered that our QuickBooks system had not been fully updated in several years. Financial records and budgets should allow a board to review prior years and clearly understand income, expenses, and trends. Some of those records had not been fully reconciled. Donor and sponsor tracking systems, including CRM processes, also required restructuring.
These were not short-term tasks. They were structural improvements layered on top of our regular annual responsibilities. In effect, we set ourselves up to complete both operational programming and internal reform simultaneously. That doubled the workload from the outset.
As a new team, we also did not necessarily have the same informal community knowledge or long-standing personal connections that previous boards may have relied upon. That made formal documentation and tracking systems even more essential.
Another challenge involved several large Ukrainian student organizations that had not formally engaged with SUSK for several years. From the outside, it appeared as though they were affiliated. When we realized that they were not actively participating, we asked why. Our team prioritized understanding those reasons and rebuilding those relationships. From our perspective, there is no disadvantage for a local club to be part of a national network, so we focused on reestablishing trust and communication.
Now that many of the structural and organizational issues have been addressed, one of the most significant ongoing challenges is the international tuition issue for Ukrainian newcomer students. This is not a problem that can be solved in a matter of months. It requires sustained advocacy. Our role has been to continue conversations initiated by previous boards, identify the appropriate institutional decision-makers, and ensure that the dialogue does not stall with leadership turnover.
One of our priorities is ensuring continuity, even after current leaders step down. When a new project director or president takes on the role, the work must continue. The international tuition issue is a long-term project. It has involved resistance and institutional pushback, but we are continuing the effort. We are also fortunate to have support from other Ukrainian organizations that publicly endorse our message. That validation has been extremely helpful.
Jacobsen: What has been most supportive for you in this role?
Furtak: Externally, the most helpful support has been access to information and guidance. That may sound simple, but it has been invaluable. For example, I meet regularly with the president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), along with our national coordinator. Those conversations provide space to discuss current initiatives, challenges, and needs. Sometimes we assist the UCC. At other times, they provide us with resources, strategic advice, or connections.
That relationship is not limited to the UCC. Donors and long-standing partners also check in and remain accessible. Alumni who previously held leadership roles on the board are another important resource. When we encounter challenges, I can reach out to former leaders, and they respond quickly. They either provide direct guidance or connect us with someone who can.
This support network has been particularly meaningful because I entered the presidency without prior service on the national board. There were systems and relationships that were not immediately visible to me. Having experienced alumni and community leaders available for consultation reduced uncertainty.
It has also been encouraging to see other board members independently access that network of support. They do not rely solely on me as an intermediary. That demonstrates growth in confidence and leadership capacity.
As projects evolve and contacts change, knowing that the broader community stands behind us provides stability. That level of support is difficult to quantify, but it has been essential.
Jacobsen: When you think about larger student organizations or advocacy bodies—such as national student associations—what do you wish they asked student leaders like you? What do you wish they offered? Considering the size and diversity of the student population, what would be most helpful?
Furtak: What our students need most is access to education. That is especially true for newcomer Ukrainian students arriving in Canada and attempting to establish their careers.
For many of them, returning to Ukraine is not a straightforward option. The country they left has changed significantly due to the war. Some educational institutions have been disrupted or damaged. Others have completed degrees but recognize that Canadian credential recognition often requires additional local education. In practice, obtaining a Canadian degree can be necessary to compete effectively in the Canadian job market.
When a highly motivated student wants to pursue an undergraduate or master’s degree, financial and immigration barriers can delay or prevent that opportunity. One major issue is the time required to secure permanent residency. Students may wait years while working before they are eligible for domestic tuition rates. In an ideal scenario, pathways for student permanent residency would move more efficiently, reducing the period during which displaced students are effectively prevented from accessing post-secondary education.
Beyond immigration pathways, funding remains a consistent need. Local student clubs require financial resources to host events, support initiatives, and build community. At the national level, much of our fundraising effort is directed toward redistributing resources to local clubs. Increased funding from partners and community organizations would allow us to provide more direct support.
Another important factor is early engagement. Sustaining student organizations requires reaching students before or at the beginning of their university experience. Our team has focused on outreach to first-year students and even to high school students and their families. Informing parents and students about Ukrainian student organizations early increases participation and long-term engagement. Broader institutional support for that early outreach would strengthen the entire ecosystem.
Jacobsen: What would you identify as the biggest achievement of your tenure?
Furtak: The greatest achievement has been the enthusiasm and commitment of the current board as they move into the next year.
This year required substantial work. We addressed structural reforms, strengthened core systems, and rebuilt foundational processes. At the same time, the team enjoyed the experience and wants to continue serving. They are not stepping away from leadership due to burnout. That is meaningful.
When the year began, we faced a daunting list of unresolved issues. It felt like standing at the base of an enormous mountain with limited clarity about how to proceed. The next board will not begin from that same starting point. Systems are stronger. Documentation is clearer. Relationships are more stable.
From my perspective as president, that continuity was a central goal: ensuring that the next team inherits a more sustainable structure than the one we received. We are steadily moving toward that objective.
A smaller but significant achievement has been seeing renewed energy at the local club level. The sense of engagement and momentum has returned. That resurgence of community participation has been especially rewarding.
This year has felt different. It may be part of the post-COVID recovery period, but there has been renewed energy. We have seen four new Ukrainian student clubs established at institutions where no such club had previously existed. In many cases, all it required was asking a student whether they would be interested in starting one. They embraced the opportunity and committed fully.
Several existing clubs have also joined or re-engaged with our national network. There are high school students who are already expressing interest in becoming involved when they enter university. For me, that enthusiasm is a meaningful achievement. It reflects that we have created an environment that students want to join and sustain.
Jacobsen: What message would you give to the next president? And what message would you give more broadly to Ukrainians in Ukraine?
Furtak: For Ukrainians in Ukraine, the message is that the diaspora is strong. Every day, we advocate, fundraise, organize, and preserve culture in whatever ways we can. We work to keep the language, traditions, and community connections alive. We engage at the local, national, and international levels, calling for continued support.
Young people in the diaspora are deeply committed. They care about their heritage and about Ukraine’s future. Ukrainians in Ukraine are not alone. Everything we do is grounded in the understanding that without Ukraine, there would be no Ukrainian diaspora, no SUSK, and no Ukrainian Canadian Congress. We are deeply grateful for the sacrifices being made in Ukraine to protect the country and its people.
I believe Ukraine will endure. The consequences of a different outcome would extend far beyond its borders. Many global actors are watching the conflict and its implications for international security and sovereignty. From our perspective, we continue to do what we can, recognizing that our ability to organize here is directly connected to what is happening in Ukraine.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
Furtak: Thank you. Please let me know if you need anything further.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/13
Based on the supplied Jacobsen Bank analysis, the catalog documents 10,494 archived publications across 205 outlets, with a lower-bound expanded estimate of 10,842+ when unarchived material is considered. The list spans interviews, articles, republications, and clippings, with minor possible inflation from a small number of draft formats. The highest archived outlet counts are Medium (Personal) at 1,900, The Good Men Project at 1,777, Ask A Genius at 1,590, Canadian Atheist at 1,131, and In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal at 854. The analysis was dated March 8, 2026, explicitly identified in the text as International Women’s Day, and conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The following represents a comprehensive analysis of content in the Jacobsen Bank since founding – while working part-time at an equestrian facility in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, as a ranch hand and landscaper to review the horse community in Canada – to catalogue all materials produced in the career. This database of publications includes articles, interviews, and republications in part, e.g., clippings, or whole. Future analyses would be warranted. The current date is March 8, 2026 conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine during the Russian aggression against Ukraine on International Women’s Day. The presentation will be two-fold. One, the comprehensive alphabetical listing of outlets followed by publication count per outlet, where “outlets” means blogs, news sites, opinion publications, periodicals, and other media venues. Second, the listing of the outlets for publication numbers from highest quantity to lowest quantity. Some extant draft formats may be accidentally counted in these tallies. However, there are not many. Therefore, these tallies will be close to sole authorship or co-authorship listings per outlet. To begin:
- 3 Quarks Daily has 3 publications.
- A Further Inquiry has 80 publications; although, unarchived numbers are above 340.
- A Life in Comedy has 6 publications.
- Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights has 1 publication.
- Advice to Gifted and Talented Youth has 8 publications.
- Advocacy for Alleged Witches has 2 publications.
- Alessia and Marti has 1 publication.
- Alliance of Former Muslims has 2 publications.
- Allianz vun Humanisten Atheisten & Agnostiker has 1 publication.
- American Enterprise Institute has 1 publication.
- AndrewCopson.Com has 1 publication.
- Anglican Link has 1 publication.
- Anna Sundari has 1 publication.
- Annaborgia has 6 publications.
- Arab Atheist Broadcasting has 1 publication.
- Aristotle / Alexander has 1 publication.
- Ask A Genius has 1590 publications; although, unarchived numbers are 1635.
- Assorted In-Sights has 20 publications.
- Atheist Alliance of America has 6 publications.
- Atheist Freethinkers has 2 publications.
- Atheist Republic (Blog) has 11 publications.
- Atheist Republic (News) has 84 publications.
- Atheist Republic (Op-Ed) has 6 publications.
- Atheist Society of Nigeria has 15 publications.
- AUSU Executive Blog has 2 publications.
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation has 1 publication.
- Baobab Inclusive Empowerment Society has 2 publications.
- Basic Income Earth Network has 22 publications.
- Baylor University has 1 publication.
- BioAro has 1 publication.
- Bishop Accountability has 14 publications.
- Boa Morte has 2 publications.
- Book Foreword has 1 publication.
- Book References has 9 publications.
- Born To Do Math has 211 publications.
- British Columbia Centre on Substance Use has 1 publication.
- bruceschneier.com has 1 publication.
- buddhist-essentials-and-concepts.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
- Canadian Atheist has 1,131 publications.
- Canadian Science has 7 publications.
- Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy has 54 publications.
- Cannabis Life Network has 3 publications.
- Cascade Institute has 1 publication.
- Center for Inquiry Canada has 20 publications.
- Centre for Heterodox Social Science has 1 publication.
- Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies has 1 publication.
- Check Your Head has 3 publications.
- Church and State has 1 publication.
- City Startup Labs has 1 publication.
- Cognitive Thrift has 69 publications.
- College Rentals has 12 publications.
- Conatus News/Uncommon Ground Media Inc. has 340 publications.
- Cornelius Press has 20 publications.
- CounterVortex has 1 publication.
- critical links has 17 publications.
- Current Wave Data has 1 publication.
- Dabran Platform has 1 publication.
- Daily Atheist has 1 publication.
- Dear Rick has 15 publications.
- Develop Africa has 1 publication.
- Dimmblá has 1 publication.
- Doral360 has 1 publication.
- Dr. Caroline Fleck has 1 publication.
- СокальINFO has 84 publications.
- Earth, Skin & Eden has 2 publications.
- East Turkistan Government-in-Exile has 5 publications.
- Ecophiles has 2 publications.
- EIN Presswire has 1 publication.
- Enchanting the Void has 1 publication.
- Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières has 3 publications.
- Freedom From Codependency has 1 publication.
- Fresh Start Recovery Centre has 7 publications.
- Garymclelland.blog has 1 publication.
- Gordon Neighbourhood House has 10 publications.
- Greek Helsinki Monitor has 1 publication.
- Green Reporter has 1 publication.
- grothman.house.gov has 1 publication.
- Harvest House Ministries has 1 publication.
- HawkeyeAssociates.Ca has 1 publication.
- HerbSilverman.Com has 27 publications.
- Hrvatski Focus has 1 publication.
- Huffington Post has 4 publications.
- Humanismus has 1 publication.
- Humanist Alliance Philippines International has 3 publications.
- Humanist Perspectives has 1 publication; although, unarchived numbers are 7.
- Humanisten has 2 publications.
- Humanists International has 20 publications.
- iData Research Inc. has 1 publication.
- In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal has 854 publications; although, unarchived numbers are higher.
- Indian American Muslim Council has 1 publication.
- Infinite Cosmology Blog has 1 publication.
- International Policy Digest has 105 publications.
- Irish Freethinkers & Humanists has 1 publication.
- Islamic Supreme Council of Canada has 2 publications.
- Jacobsen’s Jabberwocky has 3 publications.
- Jain Avenue Magazine has 1 publication.
- Jennifer Arrington has 10 publications.
- Jewish Center for Peace has 1 publication.
- Karmik has 3 publications.
- kasesehumanistbizoha.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
- Katsioulis.Com has 4 publications.
- Kindred Media has 1 publication.
- Kurdipedia has 1 publication.
- La Petite Mort has 11 publications.
- Learning Analytics Research Group has 2 publications.
- Les News has 1 publication.
- Lifespan Cognition Lab has 4 publications.
- Lift Cannabis News has 3 publications.
- Lost In Samsara has 1 publication.
- Low Entropy has 1 publication.
- Maxime Vende has 1 publication.
- Medium (Humanist Voices) has 575 publications.
- Medium (Other) has 1 publication.
- Medium (Personal) has 1,900 publications.
- Medium (Rick Rosner) has 66 publications.
- Mendy Marcus has 7 publications.
- Miscellaneous has 1 publication.
- MomMandy has 1 publication.
- MyMichiganBeach has 2 publications.
- MyNewsGH has 1 publication.
- Narsdoktorusa has 1 publication.
- Natasha Taneka has 3 publications.
- Naturalistic Paganism has 2 publications.
- New Age Islam has 1 publication.
- News Intervention has 287 publications.
- NewsDay has 1 publication.
- NEXUSNewsfeed has 1 publication.
- Nimrokh Media has 1 publication.
- Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society has 48 publications; although, unarchived has more.
- Northeast Ohio Weddings Magazine has 11 publications.
- Oceane-Group has 7 publications.
- Organic Bed Threads has 1 publication.
- PardesSeleh.Com has 11 publications.
- Parlour News Media has 1 publication.
- PB Consulting Online has 1 publication.
- Pensive Quill has 9 publications.
- People, Personas, and Politics has 43 publications.
- Personal SubStack has 22 publications; although, unarchived may be higher.
- Piece of Mind has 5 publications.
- Plays has 1 publication.
- Polskie Stowarzyszenie Racjonalistów has 1 publication.
- PrairieCare has 1 publication.
- Prof. Robert Jensen has 1 publication.
- Prometheism has 12 publications.
- Purples Impressions has 3 publications.
- Rational Doubt has 7 publications.
- Ritual Killing in Africa has 2 publications.
- RND4Impact has 1 publication.
- roberto.foa.name has 3 publications.
- Rockmount Financial Corporation has 1 publication.
- Running Point Capital has 1 publication.
- Salines.ba has 1 publication.
- Sarah Zentz Jewelry has 1 publication.
- shiessle.com has 1 publication.
- Science, Technology and Philosophy has 4 publications.
- Secular Student Alliance has 1 publication.
- Secularism is a Women’s Issue has 8 publications.
- SikivuHutchinson.Com has 1 publication.
- Skeptic Meditations has 6 publications.
- Skeptic Society Magazine has 4 publications.
- SocioMix has 17 publications.
- Stacey Piercey Gender Consulting Blog has 5 publications
- Stuff2Digital has 1 publication.
- Sundari Creations has 4 publications.
- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has 2 publications.
- Survivors Unleashed International has 1 publication.
- SWAT Sociedad Anónima has 1 publication.
- Synapse has 5 publications.
- Tallu & Co. has 1 publication.
- TeenFinance has 1 publication.
- The Beam Magazine has 1 publication.
- The Black Detour has 2 publications.
- The Bud has 1 publication.
- The Dawn Project has 2 publications.
- The Future Of… has 13 publications.
- The Good Death Society has 1 publication.
- The Good Men Project has 1,777 publications; although, unarchived numbers are closer to the mid-1,800s.
- The Humanist has 15 publications.
- The Migrant Online has 2 publications.
- The National Youth Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Task Force, Inc. has 7 publications.
- The New Enlightenment Project has 39 publications.
- The Online Therapist has 1 publication.
- The Peak has 32 publications.
- The Pink Triangle Trust has 1 publication.
- The Rationalist has 1 publication.
- The Ubyssey has 18 publications.
- The Voice Magazine has 13 publications.
- TheLovBud has 1 publication.
- TomKin Consulting, LLC. has 10 publications.
- Topical Magazine has 3 publications.
- Transformative Dialogues has 1 publication.
- Treasure Box Kids has 1 publication.
- TrendBT has 27 publications.
- Trusted Clothes has 231 publications.
- U.S. Hispanic Business Council has 2 publications.
- Unapologetic Atheism has 1 publication.
- USIA Blog has 11 publications.
- USIA Research Journal has 5 publications.
- Sam.Tripod.Com has 6 publications.
- Vatican Observatory has 1 publication.
- Vocal.Media has 85 publications; although, unarchived numbers are more than 120.
- Watchtower Documents has 1 publication.
- Werner Price has 1 publication.
- Westside Seniors Hub has 1 publication.
- WIN ONE/Phenomenon has 53 publications.
The tally comes to 10,494 publications across 205 outlets up to 10,842+ publications across 205 outlets based on the evaluation criteria provided by the Jacobsen Bank before. Not everything has been archived and some have not been archived, perhaps – more precisely, for more than a year. Therefore, these numbers or the range provided are definitively lower than current real totals. When rank-ordered by publication total rather than by alphabetical listing, the reframed listing comes to the following:
This ranking still uses the archived numbers as stated for ordering. In other words, the caveat-bearing entries remain placed by their archived totals, not by inferred or approximate unarchived totals. Some extant draft formats may be accidentally counted in these tallies; however, there are not many, so these numbers should remain close to sole-authorship or co-authorship counts per outlet.
- Medium (Personal) has 1,900 publications.
- The Good Men Project has 1,777 publications; although, unarchived numbers are closer to the mid-1,800s.
- Ask A Genius has 1,590 publications; although, unarchived numbers are 1,635.
- Canadian Atheist has 1,131 publications.
- In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal has 854 publications; although, unarchived numbers are higher.
- Medium (Humanist Voices) has 575 publications.
- Conatus News/Uncommon Ground Media Inc. has 340 publications.
- News Intervention has 287 publications.
- Trusted Clothes has 231 publications.
- Born To Do Math has 211 publications.
- International Policy Digest has 105 publications.
- Vocal.Media has 85 publications; although, unarchived numbers are more than 120.
- Atheist Republic (News) has 84 publications.
- СокальINFO has 84 publications.
- A Further Inquiry has 80 publications; although, unarchived numbers are above 340.
- Cognitive Thrift has 69 publications.
- Medium (Rick Rosner) has 66 publications.
- Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy has 54 publications.
- WIN ONE/Phenomenon has 53 publications.
- Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society has 48 publications; although, unarchived has more.
- People, Personas, and Politics has 43 publications.
- The New Enlightenment Project has 39 publications.
- The Peak has 32 publications.
- HerbSilverman.Com has 27 publications.
- TrendBT has 27 publications.
- Basic Income Earth Network has 22 publications.
- Personal SubStack has 22 publications; although, unarchived may be higher.
- Assorted In-Sights has 20 publications.
- Center for Inquiry Canada has 20 publications.
- Cornelius Press has 20 publications.
- Humanists International has 20 publications.
- The Ubyssey has 18 publications.
- critical links has 17 publications.
- SocioMix has 17 publications.
- Atheist Society of Nigeria has 15 publications.
- Dear Rick has 15 publications.
- The Humanist has 15 publications.
- Bishop Accountability has 14 publications.
- The Future Of… has 13 publications.
- The Voice Magazine has 13 publications.
- College Rentals has 12 publications.
- Prometheism has 12 publications.
- Atheist Republic (Blog) has 11 publications.
- La Petite Mort has 11 publications.
- Northeast Ohio Weddings Magazine has 11 publications.
- PardesSeleh.Com has 11 publications.
- USIA Blog has 11 publications.
- Gordon Neighbourhood House has 10 publications.
- Jennifer Arrington has 10 publications.
- TomKin Consulting, LLC. has 10 publications.
- Book References has 9 publications.
- Pensive Quill has 9 publications.
- Advice to Gifted and Talented Youth has 8 publications.
- Secularism is a Women’s Issue has 8 publications.
- Canadian Science has 7 publications.
- Fresh Start Recovery Centre has 7 publications.
- Mendy Marcus has 7 publications.
- Oceane-Group has 7 publications.
- Rational Doubt has 7 publications.
- The National Youth Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Task Force, Inc. has 7 publications.
- A Life in Comedy has 6 publications.
- Annaborgia has 6 publications.
- Atheist Alliance of America has 6 publications.
- Atheist Republic (Op-Ed) has 6 publications.
- Sam.Tripod.Com has 6 publications.
- Skeptic Meditations has 6 publications.
- East Turkistan Government-in-Exile has 5 publications.
- Piece of Mind has 5 publications.
- Stacey Piercey Gender Consulting Blog has 5 publications.
- Synapse has 5 publications.
- USIA Research Journal has 5 publications.
- Huffington Post has 4 publications.
- Katsioulis.Com has 4 publications.
- Lifespan Cognition Lab has 4 publications.
- Science, Technology and Philosophy has 4 publications.
- Skeptic Society Magazine has 4 publications.
- Sundari Creations has 4 publications.
- 3 Quarks Daily has 3 publications.
- Cannabis Life Network has 3 publications.
- Check Your Head has 3 publications.
- Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières has 3 publications.
- Humanist Alliance Philippines International has 3 publications.
- Jacobsen’s Jabberwocky has 3 publications.
- Karmik has 3 publications.
- Lift Cannabis News has 3 publications.
- Natasha Taneka has 3 publications.
- Purples Impressions has 3 publications.
- roberto.foa.name has 3 publications.
- Topical Magazine has 3 publications.
- Advocacy for Alleged Witches has 2 publications.
- Alliance of Former Muslims has 2 publications.
- Atheist Freethinkers has 2 publications.
- AUSU Executive Blog has 2 publications.
- Baobab Inclusive Empowerment Society has 2 publications.
- Boa Morte has 2 publications.
- Earth, Skin & Eden has 2 publications.
- Ecophiles has 2 publications.
- Humanisten has 2 publications.
- Islamic Supreme Council of Canada has 2 publications.
- Learning Analytics Research Group has 2 publications.
- MyMichiganBeach has 2 publications.
- Naturalistic Paganism has 2 publications.
- Ritual Killing in Africa has 2 publications.
- Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has 2 publications.
- The Black Detour has 2 publications.
- The Dawn Project has 2 publications.
- The Migrant Online has 2 publications.
- U.S. Hispanic Business Council has 2 publications.
- Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights has 1 publication.
- Alessia and Marti has 1 publication.
- Allianz vun Humanisten Atheisten & Agnostiker has 1 publication.
- American Enterprise Institute has 1 publication.
- AndrewCopson.Com has 1 publication.
- Anglican Link has 1 publication.
- Anna Sundari has 1 publication.
- Arab Atheist Broadcasting has 1 publication.
- Aristotle / Alexander has 1 publication.
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation has 1 publication.
- Baylor University has 1 publication.
- BioAro has 1 publication.
- Book Foreword has 1 publication.
- British Columbia Centre on Substance Use has 1 publication.
- bruceschneier.com has 1 publication.
- buddhist-essentials-and-concepts.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
- Cascade Institute has 1 publication.
- Centre for Heterodox Social Science has 1 publication.
- Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies has 1 publication.
- Church and State has 1 publication.
- City Startup Labs has 1 publication.
- CounterVortex has 1 publication.
- Current Wave Data has 1 publication.
- Dabran Platform has 1 publication.
- Daily Atheist has 1 publication.
- Develop Africa has 1 publication.
- Dimmblá has 1 publication.
- Doral360 has 1 publication.
- Dr. Caroline Fleck has 1 publication.
- EIN Presswire has 1 publication.
- Enchanting the Void has 1 publication.
- Freedom From Codependency has 1 publication.
- Garymclelland.blog has 1 publication.
- Greek Helsinki Monitor has 1 publication.
- Green Reporter has 1 publication.
- grothman.house.gov has 1 publication.
- Harvest House Ministries has 1 publication.
- HawkeyeAssociates.Ca has 1 publication.
- Hrvatski Focus has 1 publication.
- Humanismus has 1 publication.
- Humanist Perspectives has 1 publication; although, unarchived numbers are 7.
- iData Research Inc. has 1 publication.
- Indian American Muslim Council has 1 publication.
- Infinite Cosmology Blog has 1 publication.
- Irish Freethinkers & Humanists has 1 publication.
- Jain Avenue Magazine has 1 publication.
- Jewish Center for Peace has 1 publication.
- kasesehumanistbizoha.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
- Kindred Media has 1 publication.
- Kurdipedia has 1 publication.
- Les News has 1 publication.
- Lost In Samsara has 1 publication.
- Low Entropy has 1 publication.
- Maxime Vende has 1 publication.
- Medium (Other) has 1 publication.
- Miscellaneous has 1 publication.
- MomMandy has 1 publication.
- MyNewsGH has 1 publication.
- Narsdoktorusa has 1 publication.
- New Age Islam has 1 publication.
- NewsDay has 1 publication.
- NEXUSNewsfeed has 1 publication.
- Nimrokh Media has 1 publication.
- Organic Bed Threads has 1 publication.
- Parlour News Media has 1 publication.
- PB Consulting Online has 1 publication.
- Plays has 1 publication.
- Polskie Stowarzyszenie Racjonalistów has 1 publication.
- PrairieCare has 1 publication.
- Prof. Robert Jensen has 1 publication.
- RND4Impact has 1 publication.
- Rockmount Financial Corporation has 1 publication.
- Running Point Capital has 1 publication.
- Salines.ba has 1 publication.
- Sarah Zentz Jewelry has 1 publication.
- Secular Student Alliance has 1 publication.
- shiessle.com has 1 publication.
- SikivuHutchinson.Com has 1 publication.
- Stuff2Digital has 1 publication.
- Survivors Unleashed International has 1 publication.
- SWAT Sociedad Anónima has 1 publication.
- Tallu & Co. has 1 publication.
- TeenFinance has 1 publication.
- The Beam Magazine has 1 publication.
- The Bud has 1 publication.
- The Good Death Society has 1 publication.
- The Online Therapist has 1 publication.
- The Pink Triangle Trust has 1 publication.
- The Rationalist has 1 publication.
- TheLovBud has 1 publication.
- Transformative Dialogues has 1 publication.
- Treasure Box Kids has 1 publication.
- Unapologetic Atheism has 1 publication.
- Vatican Observatory has 1 publication.
- Watchtower Documents has 1 publication.
- Werner Price has 1 publication.
- Westside Seniors Hub has 1 publication.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/12
Inna Ivanenko is the Executive Director of the Patients of Ukraine Charitable Foundation, a leading Ukrainian NGO that defends patients’ rights and access to treatment. She has worked for years to advance transparent medicine procurement, curb corruption, and shape health-system reforms, and now steers patient advocacy through wartime disruption. Under her leadership, Patients of Ukraine collaborates with national authorities and international partners to improve reimbursement, supply chains, and service delivery, while elevating patient voices in policy. Ivanenko frequently briefs global forums, including the European Health Forum Gastein and the Ukraine Recovery Conference, on resilience, recovery, and equitable access to care in Ukraine.
In this discussion, Ivanenko outlines wartime damage and hard-won resilience. She cites 2,530 facilities hit, 327 destroyed, alongside hundreds restored. The Program of Medical Guarantees and Affordable Medicines sustain nationwide access, including mobile clinics and pharmacies. However, supply chains falter from unreliable suppliers, registration delays, and destroyed warehouses. Scott Douglas Jacobsen probes bottlenecks, equity for IDPs, and funding gaps. Ivanenko notes a mid-year budget increase, three oncology drugs moving to outpatient coverage, and persistent shortages of costly second- and third-line therapies. She urges investment to keep families home, protect medevac teams, and secure resilient procurement.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Thank you very much for joining me today. The World Health Organization has documented thousands of attacks on healthcare since the full-scale invasion. How significant are delayed care, forced referrals, and medicine shortages?
Inna Ivanenko: I can start with the statistics on how many hospitals have been damaged, ruined, or rehabilitated. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 2,530 medical facilities (within 815 healthcare institutions) have been confirmed damaged or destroyed; of these, 327 were destroyed. The regions that have suffered the most significant damage to medical infrastructure include Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Despite this, we continue rehabilitation wherever possible: as of November 2025, 700 facilities have been fully restored and 320 partially restored, but 57 previously repaired facilities were damaged again. In frontline areas, people who still live there have the worst access to care because even reaching medical services can be dangerous; civilian travel routes and infrastructure face frequent attacks, including with short-range drones and aerial bombs. Even in these conditions, there are still possibilities to seek healthcare services outside their communities, though disrupted supplies, staff shortages, and transport barriers continue to delay or prevent care.
The healthcare system in Ukraine is designed so that people can access state-funded medical care without restrictions. It does not matter where people live or where they are registered; they can receive medical care anywhere in the country whenever they can reach it and access medicines or healthcare services. This flexibility exists because of the 2017 reform of the entire healthcare system. Also, to help people access healthcare services even in territories close to the frontline, the country has developed various types of mobile clinics that bring doctors, medicines, and diagnostic equipment directly to communities. These are relatively simple but effective in mobile conditions. The same applies to mobile pharmacies—there are many projects in which pharmacies travel to communities so that residents can obtain medicines.
It is also essential that primary healthcare facilities and hospitals are being rehabilitated across controlled territories, as the primary healthcare network is considered optimal for the country. Even in the first and second years of the war, our organization, Patients of Ukraine, received support from Crown Agents, a British company. With their help, we rehabilitated 46 hospitals in newly liberated territories. This was a successful and motivating project because when a hospital begins operating in a community, people start to return. They come back knowing that they can access medical services and that doctors are present.
The hospitals we rehabilitated were relatively small, providing only primary care, but we tried to make them as independent as possible—with their own heating, internet, and generators in case of blackouts—so electricity was always available. People knew that in their community, they had such a hub, not only for receiving healthcare services but also as a safe, warm place to gather during blackouts. Other organizations and donors are still rehabilitating these primary healthcare facilities, since our project has ended, but there remains a strong need for this work across Ukraine.
We have also seen that Russia attacks medicine warehouses. Recently, at the end of October, during an attack on Kyiv, a vast warehouse belonging to one of the largest medical suppliers, Optima Pharma, was destroyed. Fortunately, these companies distribute their goods across multiple locations, so although many medicines were lost in that particular warehouse, it did not cause a collapse in the Ukrainian market.
Everyone understands these risks, and there are other storage sites for life-saving medicines. The situation remains under control through the efforts of private companies, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and the State Enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine, which purchases medicines with state funds for distribution to hospitals across the country. Another major problem concerns medical evacuation teams operating on the frontline. They are frequent targets for Russian attacks, especially from drones. We respond by supporting them and purchasing electronic warfare systems to protect these teams. This helps save the lives of medics and defenders on the frontline. So far, we have purchased about 100 such systems, but the need is in the hundreds, and with our current resources, we can only meet a portion of that demand.
Jacobsen: One thing that comes to mind, particularly regarding the Optima bombing, was whether there were other similarly devastating effects on the supply lines, such as shortages of vehicles for mobile clinics or medical supplies? Given the complexity of the medicine-delivery and treatment process, were there specific points along this chain that have been particularly vulnerable or targeted?
Ivanenko: Regarding the Optima warehouse, the medicines stored there were primarily for pharmacies. As far as I know, the company has a backup warehouse system for pharmacies, but some of the drugs were stored at that facility, which was destroyed. Some of the medicines procured through state funds for hospitals and patients with severe diseases were also affected. Optima has its own vehicles and an extensive distribution network to deliver drugs directly to pharmacies from other warehouses that were not damaged.
As for hospital distribution, it is managed directly by the State Enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine, which has its own vehicles. This is a serious challenge for distributing life-saving drugs to oblasts close to the front lines. Not all drivers are willing to risk going to Kherson or to parts of Mykolaiv or Zaporizhzhia regions, but frankly speaking, there are no alternatives. They must rely on their own transport. Regarding mobile pharmacies, theydo not have enough vehicles, as these operate mainly through donor-supported projects. Expanding this network across all Ukrainian regions takes time, and while it provides essential access, it does not yet cover every area with high demand for such services.
Jacobsen: One small follow-up to that would be the reverse of what I just mentioned. Are there areas where the need is not as great because supply lines and delivery mechanisms are sufficient, even in wartime? In other words, while some regions lose access to medicines after events like the Optima bombing, are there other regions where supplies and conditions remain relatively stable?
Ivanenko: I can divide the answer into two parts. Mobile pharmacies typically serve regions far from oblast centers, bringing medicines under Ukraine’s Affordable Medicines program, which provides essential drugs for people with chronic diseases. This program ensures that patients can access their medication even when there is no permanent pharmacy in their village or community. Local and regional administrations are aware of residents who rely on these medicines and coordinate with mobile pharmacies to meet their needs. Regarding other life-saving drugs administered in hospitals, these are delivered by the state enterprise using its own vehicles, and patients receive them at hospitals.
Despite the war, the system continues to develop and improve access to medicines, bringing services closer to patients. For example, as a patient-based organization, we advocated with the Ministry of Health and the National Health Service of Ukraine to move certain oncology drugs from the state procurement system to the Affordable Medicines program. Starting from November, three oncology drugs have been transferred to this program and are now available in pharmacies and mobile pharmacies. This means patients no longer have to wait for hospital deliveries—they can go to a pharmacy and get their treatment. It is a patient-oriented approach introduced at the right time, and patients have welcomed these changes since the drugs can be taken on an outpatient basis, making treatment more convenient and accessible.
Jacobsen: According to the World Health Organization, more than 65 percent of households encounter barriers when seeking care due to out-of-pocket costs. Are those constraints felt most by patients with chronic diseases, such as those with oncology or rare conditions?
Ivanenko: The answer to this question lies in budgetary constraints on healthcare. Unfortunately, there is still not enough funding allocated from the state budget, particularly for medicines and especially for second- and third-line therapies, which are life-saving for patients with severe diseases such as cancer and rare conditions. As a result, people often have to pay out of pocket—if they can even find these medicines in Ukraine, since availability is also a significant issue. Many second- and third-line therapies are not available in pharmacies because they are costly, and not all manufacturers are willing to register these drugs in our country. This creates a serious problem for patients with severe illnesses who need access to such treatments.
We are doing our best to persuade the government and parliament to allocate more funding for life-saving medicines. This year, for the first time in my 17 years in healthcare, parliament increased the budget for essential drugs mid-year, adding 3 billion hryvnias. It is not enough, of course, but it is progress. Thanks to this funding, the state was able to sign contracts with one pharmaceutical company to supply three innovative oncohematology drugs. It is a step forward, though the gap remains large.
Overall, Ukraine faces a severe problem in this area. The healthcare, education, and social sectors all rely heavily on international support and donor funding, since Ukrainian tax revenues are directed primarily toward defence. Healthcare today continues to function essentially thanks to the ongoing assistance of our global partners.
According to calculations by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the need for 2026 is 228 million euros solely for medicines, to ensure patients can access life-saving treatments. Perhaps you are not aware that not all patients with severe diseases have access to state-covered drugs. For example, certain rare conditions, such as autoimmune diseases, achondroplasia, or Duchenne muscular dystrophy, are not covered by the state budget at all. As a result, patients must rely on constant fundraising, which is exhausting and unsustainable. The cost of these drugs is enormous, and families—especially those with sick children—are forced to seek treatment abroad.
Unfortunately, this means Ukraine loses valuable human capital, as entire families emigrate to Europe or other countries. It is not only a tragedy for those families but also a burden on European systems, which must initially provide them with healthcare and support. It would be far better to invest in life-saving drugs here in Ukraine, allowing people to stay, work, raise their children, and defend their country, rather than being forced to leave to survive.
Most people do not want to move abroad—they must do so to access treatment. Families with children who have severe diseases and now live abroad also want to return home. We remain in contact with many of these patients and their parents living in various European countries, and all of them express a desire to come back. However, after experiencing the difference in healthcare accessibility, they know that if they return, their children will not receive the essential treatments they need. Thus, they remain abroad.
Investment in healthcare could bring people back to Ukraine. These families are ready to return and work here—if only they could have reliable access to treatment at home. I think that fully answers your question.
Jacobsen: From a patient perspective, where does the Program of Medical Guarantees (PMG) succeed in practice, and what are the areas that still need improvement?
Ivanenko: In general, we are satisfied with the Program of Medical Guarantees, especially during wartime, because it allows people to receive medical services anywhere in the country. We are not tied to a specific territory or doctor. Patients are free to choose where they receive medical care, which is a significant advantage of the program.
The same applies to medicines provided through the Affordable Medicines program. People can access their medication at any pharmacy in the country, either free of charge or with a small co-payment, through a system also financed by the PMG. It is a barrier-free program that gives people real access to their medicines. Patients can also book appointments online and have remote consultations with doctors, something that was not possible before the PMG was introduced.
Another essential feature is that the National Health Service of Ukraine pays hospitals for each patient and each specific case. This has helped change the mindset of hospitals, doctors, and patients alike. They now understand that the state compensates them fairly for the services provided, and in many cases, the tariffs are comparable to those in European countries.
As for improvements, the main focus should be on strengthening primary healthcare. Family doctors should have more responsibility and be able to address around 80 percent of patients’ needs, with only about 20 percent referred to secondary or tertiary care. Currently, that balance does not exist in Ukraine. This requires not only better training for primary care doctors but also greater health education for patients. People need to take responsibility for their health, schedule regular checkups, and use the preventive services available to them at no cost. Unfortunately, many Ukrainians delay seeing a doctor until they are seriously ill, making treatment much more expensive and complicated.
Beyond the PMG, another area for improvement is the Ministry of Health’s overall healthcare infrastructure. Ukraine still has a legacy from the Soviet Union—too many hospitals, more than the population requires. Every region and community tries to preserve these large hospital buildings, often without enough patients to justify their operation. It would be more effective to optimize the network, focusing resources on strengthening primary healthcare rather than maintaining extensive, underused facilities.
These are the main areas where the PMG and the broader healthcare system can continue to improve.
Jacobsen: The Affordable Medicines program has expanded significantly, serving millions. Even so, what are the current bottlenecks?
Ivanenko: We need to expand this program further. We are in constant contact with the leaders of patient organizations representing people with 27 different medical conditions, and we understand their treatment needs. Many of these needs could be addressed through the Affordable Medicines program. We already have a list of medicines to add to the program. However, the key issue is budgeting. Some medicines have been added, but there is still a long waiting list of drugs and medical devices that could broaden the program’s scope. We are in continuous dialogue with the Ministry of Health, the National Health Service, and the Ministry of Finance to increase funding for both the Affordable Medicines program and the Central Procurement Program.
Jacobsen: Supply chains and inflation continue to strain medicine availability—not necessarily because of bombings or attacks on storage facilities. Which distribution reforms could help stabilize inpatient drug supplies?
Ivanenko: The main issue concerns the distribution of medicines procured centrally under the state budget through the State Enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine. We fully understand how this process works at every stage, and the biggest problem right now lies with unreliable suppliers who fail to deliver medicines on time. They sign contracts with the state but do not fulfill their obligations promptly. Some life-saving drugs are delayed for up to nine months. This is not a logistical issue like postal delivery—it is about medicines that need to cross Ukraine’s borders, often from India or other countries, and they are not being supplied on schedule.
In some cases, the winners of state tenders are suppliers of drugs that are not even registered in Ukraine. This situation is technically legal under current regulations because tenders are often awarded to the supplier offering the lowest price, even if their medicine is not yet registered. Those suppliers are then given a specific number of days to complete the registration and deliver the drug.
This process, however, is a nightmare for patients. There are frequent delays because these suppliers fail to register the drugs on time, which in turn prevents timely delivery. Oncology patients, for example, have been left waiting nine or ten months without access to life-saving chemotherapy. It is devastating.
We have been working with the Ministry of Health and the State Enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine to develop mechanisms to prevent such suppliers from winning future tenders. There are discussions about introducing blacklists or other accountability measures, but we will have to see how effectively they are implemented. At the moment, this remains one of the most urgent and challenging issues in the medical supply chain.
Jacobsen: Finally, there are millions of returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). What measures are improving equitable access to medicines and guaranteed healthcare services for IDPs, older people, and people in remote areas?
Ivanenko: As I mentioned earlier, IDPs—like all Ukrainians—have access to medical care under the Program of Medical Guarantees throughout the entire country. It does not matter where they are currently located; they can choose any clinic or hospital that has a contract with the National Health Service of Ukraine to receive free care.
The same applies to the Affordable Medicines program. People can use it anywhere in Ukraine. Recently, the Ministry of Health issued an order requiring every pharmacy in the country to have a contract with the National Health Service under this program. Previously, participation was optional; now it is mandatory, which significantly improves access.
So, regardless of where someone lives—whether they are displaced, elderly, or in a rural area—they can receive both medical services and medicines through these national programs.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Inna.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/11
Sofiia Yudina (Софія Юдіна) is a Ukrainian mentor and child-and-youth advocacy professional working in the field of mentorship for children and young people without parental support. She is the Mentorship Development Manager at the DIiMO Office and an active mentor; she appeared on the 26 March 2026 Media Center Ukraine briefing on mentorship reform in Ukraine, where I was present.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen discusses speculture, unrealistic expectations, and material dependency. The discussion also examines mentorship reform with Sofiia Yudina, Mentorship Development Manager at the DIiMO Office, for children and youth without parental support in Ukraine. Yudina explains how mentorship helps teenagers in institutional care prepare for adulthood through emotional support, practical guidance, and socialization. She outlines how children and mentors are matched, the screening and training of mentor candidates, and the challenges posed by institutional program growth, UNICEF-backed support structures, mentor supervision, and the broader goal of helping vulnerable young people build stable, independent lives over time.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You just gave a presentation at the Media Center Ukraine as a co-panellist. When it comes to mentoring and children who need additional support, how do these children come into your care? What key supports do they need?
Sofiia Yudina: In Ukraine, there is still an institutional child-care system. Foster families are developing, and state policy increasingly emphasizes family-based care, but many children remain in residential institutions. Mentorship is a program intended to support, in particular, teenagers approaching adulthood who may not be fully prepared for independent living.
What we see is that people who pursue adoption or foster-care training often prefer younger children. As a result, older children, teenagers, children with siblings, and children with disabilities are less likely to be placed in families and are more often left to prepare for adulthood within institutional settings. In that sense, mentorship can become an important bridge before they leave care.
I am a mentor to a girl who is now 14; we began when she was 12. In her institution, children typically complete their basic schooling and then move on to further education or vocational study, where they are expected to become more independent. Even for a child raised in a family, that age can be too early to manage a budget, make major life choices, or navigate adulthood confidently. For a child in institutional care—where meals, schedules, and daily routines are organized for them—the transition can be even more difficult.
Mentorship is a volunteer-based program. Social services and institutions identify children who may benefit, but the child’s willingness is also important. In my case, when a social worker contacted me, I was shown two documents. The first was the child’s own application, where she described herself, her interests, and the kind of mentor she imagined. The second was a more detailed profile from teachers and psychologists, outlining her needs in areas such as preparation for adult life, socialization, and emotional support. Based on her needs and on my own profile after I completed the training, we were matched.
Sometimes the process is more organic. Organizations may hold events or activities in institutional settings, and if a volunteer connects well with a child, that volunteer may later be invited to become a mentor.
The needs are highly individual because every child has a different history. For teenagers preparing to leave care, a mentor might help with choosing a profession, selecting a college or vocational path, completing applications, or preparing for exams. For younger children, the support may be simpler and more relational: spending time together, playing, building trust, and offering consistent emotional support. The broader goal is socialization and accompaniment—helping children build the skills, confidence, and relationships they need to participate more fully in society and to avoid repeating cycles of deprivation or exclusion.
Jacobsen: What are the current staff members and volunteers? How many mentors are there currently?
Yudina: As of the end of 2025, there were 103 official mentorship contracts in Ukraine. In the past three months alone, I am aware of around 20 additional contracts, though the total is likely higher since I do not have visibility into all cases. In addition, some mentorship relationships exist informally, without formal contracts, so that the actual number may be closer to 200. For comparison, in 2024 there were approximately 46 contracts, so the number has already more than doubled.
Jacobsen: How many children have been supported since the start of the program?
Yudina: I would need to verify the exact figure. The state mentorship program began in 2018, and the structure has evolved since then. The number is in the hundreds, not thousands, but I prefer to confirm the exact figure.
Jacobsen: What role does UNICEF play in funding or supporting the program?
Yudina: Mentorship in Ukraine is fundamentally a state program. Its roots go back further, as NGOs in cities such as Kyiv and Donetsk region were already implementing mentorship initiatives more than a decade ago. In 2018, it was formalized at the national level, allowing individuals across the country to apply and become mentors. However, for social workers, it often represents an additional responsibility, which has affected consistency.
In recent years, UNICEF has supported local mentorship initiatives. For example, projects such as “United by Mentorship” and programs implemented with organizations like DIMO and the The Coordination Center for Family Upbringing and Child Care Development have received support. Within these initiatives, we have developed communication campaigns to raise awareness about mentorship—what it is, how to join, and what it involves in practice. It is important to emphasize that mentorship is not a full-time role, but rather a commitment of a few hours per week to support a child.
UNICEF has also contributed to training programs for both trainers and mentors. In addition, they have supported supervision structures, including psychological support for mentors. If a mentor encounters challenges—whether related to a child’s behaviour, their own motivation, or uncertainty—they can receive guidance through individual or group sessions with psychologists.
For instance, within the DIMO project, we hold weekly group webinars on topics such as adolescence, communication, and the normalization of difficult emotional experiences for mentors. This support is crucial, particularly because mentors may face challenges within institutional environments—for example, limited staff cooperation or requests for material assistance. Having access to professional guidance helps mentors navigate these situations more effectively.
The system has improved significantly. When I first became a mentor, for six months, no one checked in on how I was doing, which made the experience more difficult. I did not always know whether I was responding appropriately or how to structure my role. Now, the level of support is much stronger than it was even two years ago. I am glad to be part of this development and to be actively involved in the growth of mentorship in Ukraine.
Jacobsen: What challenges do the children face, and what challenges do the mentors face? How do you work with mentors so that their difficulties are reduced, and the children can be supported more effectively?
Yudina: What we do as an organization is provide psychologists and a sense of community. When someone is going through a specific experience, such as mentoring, they may receive encouragement from family or friends, who say they are doing something meaningful, but support groups are important as well. In those groups, people can share their experiences and understand that they are not alone in their difficulties.
As a team, we have built a community and organized online events. Tomorrow, for example, we have an offline event for mentor candidates where we will teach them how to prepare and how to build strong motivation, which helps prevent burnout after only a few weeks.
When it comes to children, the situation is more complicated. They cannot apply for mentorship entirely on their own because their boarding school or institution must also be open to the program. The director or lead teacher has to support it, and sometimes they do not. One of the things we do is train social workers and teachers so that they allow children to participate in the program.
Another problem is insufficient preparation for the children themselves. For example, if a teacher tells a child, “If you behave well, your mentor will adopt you,” that is very dangerous, because it creates unrealistic expectations. When those expectations are not fulfilled, it can become deeply harmful.
Children who are used to institutional settings may also see volunteers mainly as people who bring money or material goods such as phones, tablets, or toys. As a result, they may come to view adults primarily as sources of things. Mentorship is different, and we teach mentors to be very clear with themselves and the child about their motivation and role. Children will often test boundaries to understand whether they can get something extra from the mentor. That is not because the children are bad; it is because the system has taught them that adults often meet only immediate material needs.
I have heard from other mentors that if they agree to buy everything a mentee asks for, the relationship can deteriorate, because it becomes very difficult to teach or guide someone if you are seen only as a sponsor. This is not a problem caused by the child. It is a result of the wider system, in which children often lack a safe, stable adult and instead encounter volunteers who meet only physical needs.
More broadly, Ukraine still has thousands of children in institutional care, especially teenagers who are not placed with foster families. Statistics show that only a small percentage of children who leave institutional care go on to build stable and successful independent lives. That is why mentorship is so important. It helps young people see other ways of living and other models of adulthood beyond what they may have observed from parents, teachers, or other adults around them.
Mentors can also help with practical matters, such as documents, applications, and everyday skills that support a young person in the transition to adulthood. The goal is to help them become independent, stable, and successful.
Jacobsen: Something mentioned in the talk was the importance of ensuring that mentors themselves meet minimum qualification standards. How do you screen candidates to make sure they are a good fit?
Yudina: When we are working with children, we must always act in their best interests. Selecting a suitable mentor requires a structured preparation and screening process.
First, candidates submit documents to a social services center. This includes basic checks such as their health status and a criminal background check to ensure they do not have a history of offences.
Next, all candidates проходят an interview with a social worker. This stage is crucial because it allows us to assess their motivation for joining the mentorship program. Motivation matters a great deal. For example, one woman applied with a very specific set of requirements for a mentee—age, eye colour, hair colour, and certain personality traits. When asked why, she explained that her son had passed away and had those same characteristics. The concern in such a case is that the mentor may unconsciously compare the child to her son, which can be harmful for both. Even when intentions are good, this kind of projection can create serious problems.
During the interview, social workers also learn about the candidate’s family background, profession, and personal circumstances. This information helps later when matching mentors and children, especially if a child has particular interests or needs.
After the interview, candidates participate in four days of in-person training. During this training, they learn about child psychology, including the behaviour of children who have experienced family separation, neglect, disability, or grief. The training includes practical exercises, particularly role-playing scenarios, where participants take on the roles of both mentor and child. Trainers observe how candidates respond to different situations, including emotional challenges and boundary-testing behaviours.
At the end of the training, each candidate receives an evaluation indicating whether they are suitable to become a mentor. The evaluation may also specify the appropriate type of mentoring relationship—for example, working with a child of a certain age or with particular needs. Trainers assess both children’s needs and the mentor’s capacities to ensure a responsible match.
The next stage involves meeting the child. Once a mentorship begins, the mentor continues to receive support. A coordinator monitors the relationship, checking how the mentor is working with the child, how the child is responding, and whether there are any concerns or red flags.
Overall, while there are several screening stages, the most important decisions are made during the training process, where candidates are observed in practice, and their readiness is carefully evaluated.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Sofiia.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/10
Karel Bouley is a trailblazing LGBTQ broadcaster, entertainer, and activist. As half of the first openly gay duo in U.S. drive-time radio, he made history while shaping California law on LGBTQ wrongful death cases. Karel rose to prominence as the #1 talk show host on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and KGO AM 810 in San Francisco, later expanding to Free Speech TV and the Karel Cast podcast. His work spans journalism (HuffPost, The Advocate, Billboard), television (CNN, MSNBC), and the music industry. A voting member of NARAS, GALECA, and SAG-AFTRA, Karel now lives and creates in Las Vegas.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Karel Bouley discuss celebrity rumor culture, anti-LGBTQ violence, and the uneven politics of queer rights across the United States, Russia, Ghana, Senegal, and Poland. Bouley distinguishes confirmed facts from speculation, using the Pedro Pascal rumors and the Blaze Bernstein murder case to stress evidentiary caution. The conversation then examines Democratic and Republican records on LGBTQ issues, anti-trans legislation, transnational “family values” advocacy, and the interplay between law and public opinion. They conclude by considering the social roots of anti-LGBTQ attitudes, including religion, politics, education, masculinity norms, and shifting gender representation in public life over time globally.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Hey, Karel, what time is it?
Karel Bouley: Today! Apparently, I have to re-follow him because I started a new account.
Jacobsen: He is probably about half a foot taller. He is 30.
Bouley: I am working with Carter. I am doing it now so I do not forget. Follow. I have missed you, Carter. Let us start with good gay news. There are rumors that Pedro Pascal is dating a man, and a lot of people are excited about that, but it does not appear to have been publicly confirmed by Pascal himself. Recent coverage has linked him romantically to Rafael Olarra, an art director and Luke Evans’s former partner.
Jacobsen: Tell me more about this whole situation. It is no longer a situationship.
Bouley: What I love about how Pedro Pascal is handling this is that he is not publicly addressing it. He is not making a statement about it. Recent reports have focused on public appearances with Rafael Olarra, and the general tone has been that neither man is turning it into a formal public announcement. So, at minimum, it is more accurate to say there have been dating rumors and public speculation rather than a confirmed relationship announcement.
Last night, I watched a true-crime show about a case from Orange County. The killing happened in January 2018, and the long-delayed trial began in 2024 after years of postponements. The victim was Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who was gay and Jewish. Prosecutors said he was lured to a park by Samuel Woodward, a former classmate tied to the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division. In July 2024, Woodward was convicted of first-degree murder with a hate-crime enhancement, and later that year he was sentenced to life without parole.
I sat there thinking: this was not ancient history. This was Orange County, California, not some distant place people stereotypically imagine as less safe for gay people. A young man was murdered in the United States in a case prosecutors framed as anti-LGBTQ hate violence. That part is sadly real. What is less certain is any precise reconstruction of the final interaction between the two men unless one is quoting trial evidence directly, so it is safer not to overstate the details of what happened immediately before the stabbing.
And we are not talking only about international homophobia or transphobia. In Kansas, a 2026 law triggered litigation after it invalidated many transgender residents’ driver’s licenses and authorized lawsuits over restroom use in government buildings. In Tennessee, there has been a recent bill proposal that critics say could create a public registry of people receiving gender-affirming care, though describing it simply as “printing the names of every trans person in the state” is broader than what has been publicly reported. In Alabama, the better-supported claim is that the state has enacted restrictions requiring bathroom use in certain contexts according to “biological sex,” rather than saying there is a clearly established general jail penalty for all such conduct statewide.
So yes, there is a painful reminder here: anti-LGBTQ hostility is not just “over there.” It is present in the United States too. I would, however, phrase the trend line more carefully. There is strong evidence of escalating legal and political attacks on transgender rights in many U.S. jurisdictions, and Trump’s second administration has already taken executive actions rolling back federal recognition and protections for trans people. But saying this has “everything to do” with Trump worldwide is too absolute. It is more accurate to say his administrations have emboldened or amplified anti-LGBTQ political actors in the U.S., and that those signals can have broader international effects.
Jacobsen: How have Democratic and Republican administrations been for LGBTQ people, generally speaking?
Bouley: Bill Clinton was often described as a pro-gay president, but his record is mixed. During his administration, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (1993) barred openly gay people from military service, and the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) defined marriage at the federal level as between a man and a woman. Clinton later stated that he regretted signing both measures.
The effects of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” have been explored in various cultural portrayals of that era, including stories set around the Iraq War period.
Barack Obama’s record is also mixed but more positive overall. His administration supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010, and he publicly endorsed same-sex marriage in 2012. However, the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide came through the Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), not direct legislation from Congress. Broader social acceptance did increase during this period, though many legal changes were driven by the courts rather than Congress alone.
You mentioned a case in Dagestan. Russia has laws banning so-called “LGBT propaganda,” which have been used to fine businesses for distributing books with LGBTQ themes, including works like Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. Reports indicate that bookstores in regions such as Dagestan have faced penalties under these laws.
At the same time, restrictions on LGBTQ-related materials are not limited to Russia. In parts of the United States, there have been efforts to remove or restrict certain books with LGBTQ themes from school libraries, though this varies widely by state and district and is often contested.
Globally, similar patterns appear elsewhere. In Ghana, for example, the proposed Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill has been widely criticized by human rights organizations for potentially criminalizing LGBTQ identities and advocacy. The bill has been introduced more than once and remains a subject of ongoing political debate.
Jacobsen: The implication is that LGBTQ people cannot have families either.
Bouley: No, and apparently we do not come from families either—we are jokingly imagined as being grown in laboratories, like cultivated meat.
Jacobsen: That is right. Canadians are humorously said to be born out of an ice hole, fully equipped with a hockey stick, helmet, and skates, before skating off into the distance with a puck.
Bouley: In Ghana, since around 2021, LGBTQ people have faced increasing pressure, including reports of arrests, the closure of community spaces, and hostile media coverage from some outlets. Ghana has also hosted regional conferences focused on “family values,” including the African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty. Some reporting and advocacy groups have noted connections between such events and certain U.S.-based conservative or “pro-family” organizations, though the extent and nature of those ties vary and are often debated.
We have discussed similar dynamics before. In some cases, activists and researchers have documented collaboration between local groups in African countries and international advocacy organizations, including from the United States, in promoting legislation affecting LGBTQ rights. However, attributing specific actions to particular individuals or organizations requires careful sourcing and should not be overstated without clear evidence.
We also discussed Senegal previously. There have been reports that international advocacy networks, including some based in the United States, have supported or influenced local campaigns around LGBTQ-related legislation.
Jacobsen: So what I would add as a footnote is that there appears to be a broader pattern, documented by some researchers, of transnational advocacy networks—often framed around “family values”—engaging with policy debates in parts of Africa.
Bouley: Right, although the claim that LGBTQ people do not form families is clearly inaccurate. Many LGBTQ individuals have families and children.
So, while international stories often show countries shifting toward more restrictive policies, it is more accurate to say that these changes can involve a mix of domestic political dynamics and, in some cases, external advocacy or funding influences, rather than assuming a single external cause in every instance.
Jacobsen: And that is where that stands.
Bouley: That is the larger point. Hatred can attract significant funding, while poverty relief and homelessness services often struggle for comparable resources. That contrast is frequently noted in political and advocacy debates.
So, some cautiously positive news: Poland has not historically been among the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in Europe, particularly in terms of legal recognition and political rhetoric. As a member of the European Union, Poland is bound by EU law, including principles of non-discrimination.
In recent years, rulings from the European Court of Justice have required EU member states to recognize same-sex spouses for specific legal purposes, such as residency rights, when those marriages were lawfully performed in another EU country. Poland has complied in limited contexts, particularly regarding freedom of movement within the EU. However, Poland still does not recognize same-sex marriage domestically, nor does it provide full marriage equality under its national law.
So, while recognition of same-sex spouses from other EU countries for certain administrative purposes may seem narrow, it represents a meaningful legal step within the EU framework. It primarily benefits EU citizens moving between member states, rather than extending full recognition to marriages from outside the EU, such as those performed in the United States.
In the United States, there is evidence of a relationship between legal recognition and public acceptance of same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, and public support has increased over time. However, that shift began prior to the ruling and continued afterward, so it is more accurate to describe the relationship between policy and public opinion as mutually reinforcing rather than strictly one-directional.
Historically, similar dynamics can be seen in civil rights developments. Cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia established legal precedents that influenced social norms, even though public attitudes were already shifting in some segments of society.
So, when reporting on incremental policy changes in places like Poland, it is reasonable to view them as part of a broader interaction between law and culture. Even limited legal recognition can contribute to gradual normalization, though the process is neither uniform nor guaranteed.
Jacobsen: That is a useful intermediate analysis. It may not be obvious at first, but when you think it through, the downstream effects of policy change become clearer. The question I would want a deeper analysis of—though we do not have time today—is this: if support is around 80 percent, what defines the remaining 20 percent, and what characteristics do they share?
Bouley: It is not a simple, single-factor answer. Research generally points to a combination of religion, political ideology, age, geography, and levels of education as correlates of opposition to LGBTQ rights.
Religious belief can be one factor. Some individuals interpret religious texts in ways that lead them to oppose same-sex marriage or LGBTQ inclusion, while others within the same traditions interpret those texts more inclusively. So religion is not monolithic; it varies widely across denominations and individuals.
Political identity is another major factor. In the United States, attitudes toward LGBTQ rights often align with partisan affiliation, with more conservative voters tending to be less supportive. Media ecosystems can reinforce these views, especially when misinformation circulates, though it is important not to generalize all audiences or assume uniform beliefs within any group.
Education and exposure also play a role. Studies have shown that people with higher levels of education, or those who personally know LGBTQ individuals, tend to be more supportive of LGBTQ rights. However, this is a correlation, not an absolute rule, and exceptions exist in every direction.
It is also worth noting that public opinion has shifted significantly over time. Support for same-sex marriage in the United States has increased from minority support in the early 2000s to a clear majority today. That shift reflects a combination of legal changes, generational replacement, increased visibility, and broader cultural change.
So, rather than a single explanation, the more accurate picture is a cluster of influences—religious interpretation, political identity, media consumption, education, and personal experience—that together shape attitudes.
Jacobsen: If I may add a gender equality note: as we are aware, the current generations include the most educated population of girls and women in history. Following from that, as representation for women increases across society, we may begin to see broader social changes. The key question is how those changes will unfold.
Bouley: Women are often found, in survey research, to be more supportive of LGBTQ rights than men. That aligns with broader trends in public opinion data, although individual views vary.
There has also long been a cultural association between gay men and straight women in popular discourse, though the language historically used to describe that relationship is now considered outdated or offensive. A more accurate way to frame it is that social networks and shared experiences can foster mutual support.
As for attitudes among straight men, some researchers suggest that discomfort can stem from rigid gender norms or anxieties about masculinity, rather than the idea that gay men are inherently interested in them. These are social perceptions, not realities, and they vary widely across individuals and cultures.
Regarding media portrayals, it is true that some storytelling has relied on stereotypes—such as depicting gay or bisexual men as secretly pining for straight friends. Critics often argue that these narratives are reductive and do not reflect the diversity of real relationships.
On the biological point: it is more accurate to say that all human embryos begin with undifferentiated reproductive structures. Early in development, these structures can develop along typically male or female pathways depending on genetic and hormonal factors. It is not accurate to say that all embryos “start as female,” but rather that they begin in a common developmental stage before differentiation.
All right, I have to get to a homeowners’ association meeting. Have a great day, and we will do this again next Friday. Thank you for adjusting the time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Irina Tsukerman about intersecting crises shaping global security: U.S. strikes on Iran, the risks around Natanz, Hamas disarmament, Russian-Iranian coordination, Robert Mueller’s death, U.S. counterterror support in Nigeria, and Russian cyber campaigns targeting messaging apps. Tsukerman argues that Washington’s Iran policy remains multi-pronged, Hamas cannot be disarmed without enforceable control on the ground, and Russia remains strategically disruptive even when militarily constrained. She also warns that Nigeria’s conflicts resist simplistic narratives and that cyberwarfare increasingly exploits human vulnerability rather than technical failure. The exchange frames instability as interconnected, adaptive, and resistant to easy policy slogans.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: This first story is dangerous on one level and potentially de-escalatory on another. Trump has been claiming that he may wind down the war with Iran because, in his view, the United States is getting close to meeting its objectives.
Iranian state-linked media reported that the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility was targeted in a U.S.-Israeli attack. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, did not appear at Eid prayers, which drew attention given the significance of the occasion.
The broader strategic issue is whether the United States is meeting its political and military goals. So the first question is: what are the currently stated goals, and is attacking an enrichment facility with explosives inherently dangerous?
Irina Tsukerman: Regarding the first question, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that U.S. objectives have not fundamentally changed. The stated goals include degrading Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, weakening its defense industrial base, targeting elements of its naval capacity, and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
This does not represent a singular shift toward one objective, but rather a multi-pronged strategy. While the ballistic missile program has received emphasis, it is part of a broader operational framework rather than a newly exclusive goal.
There have also been discussions about substantial funding requests to Congress, reportedly in the range of $200 billion. Whether public framing of objectives is influenced by the need to justify such appropriations remains an open question.
Importantly, the nuclear issue has not disappeared from the stated agenda. Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a central, explicitly articulated objective, even if rhetorical emphasis shifts among different operational priorities.
Regarding the safety of such an attack, there is always inherent risk when striking or operating near nuclear-related facilities. However, reports indicated that there were no confirmed radioactive leaks or immediate danger to surrounding populations following the strike on Natanz.
This suggests that, in this instance, the attack may have been limited to infrastructure rather than directly impacting enriched uranium stockpiles. That said, the overall risk profile depends on the specific targets, the condition and location of nuclear materials, and the nature of the strike.
Jacobsen: So the United States–backed peace framework has issued a Hamas disarmament proposal. Disarmament is a key condition; that is not new. Hamas has so far rejected the demand to lay down arms, also not new, and Israel remains in control of Gaza.
So this is a minor development. There were meetings in Cairo over the past week. The discussion involves Nikolay Mladenov and Aryeh Lightstone. Mladenov is a diplomat who has worked on Middle East peace efforts, and Lightstone has served as an aide to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
Mladenov stated on the social media platform X: “It is now on the table. It requires one clear choice: full decommissioning by Hamas and every armed group. In this season, may those responsible make the right choice for the Palestinian people.” The article continues in a similar tone.
It appears largely procedural. The proposal formalizes what had previously been informal or unilateral efforts by the United States, now involving a broader group of countries and stakeholders.
Tsukerman: What has changed is the multilateral framing. However, Hamas is likely to reject this proposal, as it has rejected similar ones before. First, its ideological position has not changed. Second, the logistical situation has not changed. Third, no external body currently has the means to enforce disarmament.
Peacekeeping forces, even if deployed, do not typically have an enforcement mandate to disarm militant groups. Their role is to maintain stability, not to conduct offensive disarmament operations. While there have been suggestions that some forces could take on such responsibilities, this remains unclear.
The Israel Defense Forces would be the most plausible actor to carry out disarmament. However, such an operation would require full territorial control of Gaza, not partial control. At present, Israel does not exercise complete control over all areas where Hamas operates, making a comprehensive disarmament campaign unlikely in the immediate term.
It is also unclear whether any such operation has been formally planned or scheduled. Whether there is an expectation that international forces would first be deployed before further action is taken remains uncertain.
At this point, there is no clear mechanism to physically disarm Hamas if it refuses to do so voluntarily. No actor currently has both the mandate and the capacity to enforce such an outcome.
Some argue that if Iran’s support were significantly weakened, Hamas would be forced to disarm. That assumption is questionable. Even in a weakened state, elements within Iran could continue to provide support. Additionally, other regional actors, including Qatar and Turkey, may have incentives to maintain Hamas as a strategic asset.
For these reasons, a resolution does not appear imminent. Even if peacekeeping forces from countries such as Indonesia or Morocco were deployed, coordination would present challenges. These forces would need shared operational frameworks, common communication standards, and effective cooperation on the ground.
Jacobsen: They would all need to coordinate with every actor involved in this process, including Egypt, Israel, the United States, Qatar, and various Palestinian bodies, not to mention any multilateral peace framework. This is likely to be a very complicated process. Even in the best-case scenario—and I am not optimistic about that—it remains unclear whether all committed troops would deploy as planned. There has been no clearly defined timeline.
In 2025, the Russian Federation and Iran signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. This agreement emphasized cooperation but did not include a mutual defense clause obligating either side to enter a war on behalf of the other.
This brings us to the current development. On March 21, Vladimir Putin conveyed Nowruz greetings to Iranian leadership and described Russia as a reliable partner to Tehran. At the same time, the extent of Russian support for Iran remains contested. Some Iranian sources, as reported by Reuters, have indicated that Russia has provided limited tangible assistance during Iran’s most significant crisis since the 1979 revolution.
A reasonable interpretation is that Russia has offered diplomatic and rhetorical support while avoiding formal military commitments under the existing agreement.
Tsukerman: I would not characterize Russian involvement as purely symbolic. There have been multiple reports indicating that Russia has provided Iran with intelligence and logistical support, which could have operational implications for U.S. and allied forces.
Statements attributed to Kirill Dmitriev have suggested that Russia could alter its level of support depending on U.S. actions elsewhere, particularly regarding Ukraine. While Dmitriev is not a formal government spokesperson, he has participated in high-level engagements and informal diplomatic channels, which gives weight to his remarks.
Even if such statements were not officially sanctioned, they suggest a broader strategic posture. Russia may not be heavily engaged in direct military operations in support of Iran, but it is not a neutral actor. It appears to be contributing in indirect but potentially consequential ways.
The strategic intent behind these signals may include influencing internal political divisions in the United States, particularly between isolationist and interventionist factions. This could be interpreted as an attempt to shape the broader geopolitical environment rather than to commit to direct confrontation.
In that sense, Russia’s role is neither decisive nor negligible. While it may be constrained in terms of direct military capacity, it remains an active participant through intelligence, signaling, and strategic positioning. This should be taken into account in both political analysis and military assessment.
Using the death of a political opponent as a cause for celebration—someone roughly his own age, by the way—is telling.
Jacobsen: It is an excellent point. Trump turns 80 in June, so they are close in age. It is not surprising, because Trump has expressed triumphalist sentiments at the deaths of political or ideological opponents before.
Tsukerman: Still, it is a petty thing to say. His position appears to be that Mueller led a “witch hunt” against him. That mischaracterizes Mueller’s role. Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters; Reuters notes that his 22-month investigation led to charges against 34 individuals and entities, documented Russia’s efforts to sway the election in Trump’s favor, and did not indict Trump because of Justice Department policy against charging a sitting president.
It is also worth noting that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings on Russian interference were in some respects at least as damaging politically as Mueller’s own findings, because the committee backed the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia tried to help Trump in 2016.
As for the immediate news, Mueller died on March 20, 2026, at age 81, according to Reuters. Trump responded publicly, saying, “Good, I’m glad he’s dead,” which triggered a fresh round of backlash.
Jacobsen: So the United States has multiple MQ-9 drones operating in Nigeria alongside 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the military, which is fighting Islamist militants across the north, according to U.S. and Nigerian officials speaking to Reuters. Thoughts?
Tsukerman: Broadly, that is a positive development, and it helps explain why U.S. officials have been emphasizing that Washington remains engaged in Africa. Reuters reported on March 21, 2026, that the drones are collecting intelligence rather than conducting airstrikes, and that the roughly 200 U.S. troops are not embedded with Nigerian frontline units.
That matters because the security picture in Nigeria is more complex than a single narrative about one group targeting one community. There are multiple armed actors, overlapping insurgencies, communal conflicts, and criminal networks. Islamist groups are a major part of the threat environment, but not the whole of it. So any claim that the situation can be reduced to one clean story is too simple.
It is also true that many Muslim civilians, not only Christians, have been targeted by jihadist groups and other armed actors in Nigeria. The conflict landscape includes Islamist militancy, communal violence, separatist tensions, and state capacity problems, often overlapping in the same regions.
What seems constructive here is that the United States is doing more than conducting occasional strikes. Training, intelligence-sharing, and institutional support are more useful over time if the goal is to improve Nigeria’s ability to respond on its own. The Nigerian state has long struggled with corruption, weak capacity, and overstretched security institutions. Additional training may help, even if it will not solve the problem by itself.
So I would put it this way: this is a useful step, but not a decisive one. It is more serious than rhetoric, more constructive than simplistic blame, and still far short of a solution.
Jacobsen: This one is directly from the FBI rather than Reuters, so I do follow other sources as well. The warning states that Russian cyber actors are conducting a global campaign targeting commercial messaging application accounts belonging to individuals of high intelligence value. The campaign has resulted in unauthorized access to thousands of accounts.
It relies on phishing techniques, including impersonation. Attackers send fake messages while pretending to be automated support accounts. They tailor the messages to deceive targets into clicking malicious links or sharing credentials. In some cases, the attackers then link their own device to a victim’s account and move toward a full takeover. What are your thoughts on that, as an example of intelligence warfare?
Tsukerman: It is not surprising. According to a joint FBI-CISA public service announcement, Russian intelligence-linked actors are indeed running phishing campaigns against commercial messaging application accounts. The agencies said the actors have compromised individual accounts, but not the apps’ encryption or the apps themselves. The targets include current and former U.S. government officials, military personnel, political figures, and journalists.
The methods described are broadly consistent with intelligence tradecraft adapted to the messaging-app era. The attackers impersonate trusted or automated support accounts, trick users into clicking malicious links or scanning malicious QR codes, and then abuse features such as linked devices or account recovery workflows. That allows them to read messages, access contact lists, and in some cases send messages while impersonating the victim.
From a defensive standpoint, this means organizations should not treat encrypted messaging apps as self-securing. End-to-end encryption is not the issue here; user compromise is. The most useful response is better training, sharper situational awareness, and routine warnings about fake support messages, verification-code theft, suspicious QR codes, and unexpected device-link prompts. That would help companies, institutions, and individual users reduce obvious breaches.
I am less optimistic about how widely that lesson will be applied. Smaller and medium-sized organizations often respond to cyber threats by saying there is always something new, budgets are tight, and they will accept the risk. Unfortunately, that pattern tends to produce more breaches, not fewer. On this point, the bureaucracy is usually the malware’s favorite intern.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Dr. Iftikher Mahmood is a Bangladeshi American pediatrician and humanitarian leader from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. He earned his medical degree from Chittagong Medical College in 1987, later completed pediatric residency training at Brooklyn Hospital in New York, and pursued pediatric endocrinology fellowship training at New York Hospital–Cornell University. Settled in Florida since 1996, he founded the HOPE Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh in May 1999. Under his leadership, HOPE has expanded hospitals, birth centers, midwifery training, fistula care, and Rohingya refugee health services, linking rural Bangladeshi healthcare with global humanitarian partnerships and sustained community-based maternal care for underserved families nationwide.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Iftikher Mahmood about building the HOPE Foundation from a single clinic into a broader healthcare system serving Cox’s Bazar and Rohingya refugees. Mahmood reflects on Bangladesh’s preventable burdens of disease, maternal and child mortality, and the importance of training local midwives and refugee health aides. He explains how partnerships, ethical standards, and revenue from host-community hospitals help sustain care when donor attention wanes. The conversation also highlights the human reality beneath refugee statistics: grief, statelessness, trauma, resilience, and the long uncertainty facing families without security, citizenship, or stable futures in exile today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You founded HOPE in 1999 after witnessing the healthcare needs in Cox’s Bazar. What was the original problem?
Dr. Iftikher Mahmood: I was born and raised in Cox’s Bazar. During my elementary school years, Bangladesh became independent through a bloody war in 1971, separating from Pakistan. The country was war-torn, and there were widespread problems, including in the southeastern region where I grew up.
The primary issues were severe healthcare crises—high maternal mortality, high infant mortality, and high under-five mortality—alongside a lack of resources, doctors, and clinics.
I was fortunate to attend medical school. With these experiences in mind, I developed a strong sense of responsibility to help my community, as I was among the few who had that opportunity. At the time, however, I was unsure how to contribute effectively. I helped in small ways, but I wanted to do more.
I later came to the United States for higher education and completed postgraduate training at universities and hospitals there. About 26 years ago, I founded the HOPE Foundation to address these challenges by providing primary healthcare, including maternal, pediatric, and mental health services.
I began with a single clinic, which expanded over time.
Jacobsen: The organization grew from a modest clinic into hospitals, clinics, and training programs. What were the hardest turning points?
Mahmood: The organization grew from a modest clinic into hospitals, clinics, and training programs. The most difficult period came in the early years. When I started in 1999, I was in my 30s and lacked experience. I had a vision and a strong desire to help, but I did not yet know how to establish or manage an organization.
The first 12 years were especially challenging. Running the clinic required building a team and securing funding. Around 2005, after six years, I raised funds to establish a small hospital.
However, we lacked the resources to equip the hospital and hire sufficient medical staff. As a result, progress remained difficult for more than a decade.
A turning point came around 2011. I received a grant from the Japanese embassy to establish a training center, along with funding to launch a midwifery school.
This shifted the organization from being solely a service provider to also becoming an educational institution. In addition to clinical services, we introduced training programs. This strengthened our credibility with the government and local partners, enabling us to secure additional funding and support.
At the same time, I launched a program for obstetric fistula surgery. Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury typically caused by prolonged obstructed labour without timely access to emergency obstetric care, such as a cesarean section. It can lead to urinary or fecal incontinence and usually requires surgical repair.
Recognizing this as a critical issue, I developed a program in partnership with the Fistula Foundation in the United States.
This initiative further strengthened our credibility as an organization.
These developments, particularly between 2011 and 2012, transformed HOPE into a more credible, viable, and sustainable institution.
Jacobsen: In Bangladesh, what are the preventable causes of suffering or death?
Mahmood: Most preventable causes of suffering are very basic. Infections are among the leading causes, particularly those linked to poor sanitation, unsafe water, and inadequate access to basic needs.
Common infectious diseases include diarrheal diseases, pneumonia, dengue, malaria, and tuberculosis. In addition, road traffic accidents are a significant issue, often due to infrastructure challenges.
Among children, the most common preventable causes are respiratory diseases, diarrheal diseases, and malnutrition.
In maternal health, access to proper antenatal care during pregnancy is critical. Many women do not receive adequate care due to distance, financial constraints, or lack of available services. As a result, they face preventable deaths and disabilities related to pregnancy.
This contributes to high maternal mortality. When mothers suffer, their infants are also affected, leading to high rates of infant mortality, neonatal mortality, and overall child mortality
Jacobsen: You have invested in training midwives and local healthcare workers, building on the earlier discussion. Why is building local professional capacity so important?
Mahmood: In our case, the turning point came when we established the midwifery school. That grant significantly advanced our work because our organization focuses strongly on maternal health.
To provide high-quality maternal care, doctors alone are not sufficient. A strong support system is essential, including well-trained midwives.
It is difficult to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals from major cities to work in rural areas. The most effective solution is to build local capacity. The midwifery school enabled us to train local women as midwives through a three-year program. After graduation, they work in rural areas and serve their own communities.
This reduces dependence on external staffing and creates a sustainable local healthcare workforce. These midwives are young and have long professional careers ahead of them. Over time, they will save thousands of women and infants.
Jacobsen: You also work in the Rohingya refugee camps. Why is local capacity building important there as well?
Mahmood: We also work in the Rohingya refugee camps. A few years ago, we recognized that the Rohingya population has distinct cultural and social needs compared to the local population.
To provide effective care, we began training Rohingya community members. We developed a program for young Rohingya refugee women to become health aides. They receive nine months of training and then work within their communities.
They help ensure that healthcare services are understood, accepted, and properly utilized. They also educate community members about health practices and the importance of care.
This creates a bridge between external healthcare providers and the communities we serve. That is why local capacity building is essential.
Jacobsen: Following from your last response about the Rohingya refugees, what did that moment reveal to you?
Mahmood: The Rohingya refugee crisis began in 2017, about eight or nine years ago. It was a pivotal moment for our foundation because it was entirely unexpected. Within a few months, nearly one million people arrived in our area.
The HOPE Foundation had already been working in the region for over 15 years, so we had some operational capacity. We were among the first organizations to respond. When the refugees arrived, many were sick, exhausted, traumatized, and injured. They urgently needed medical care.
We quickly established clinics and health centers within the camps. This experience helped us in multiple ways. We were able to serve the most vulnerable populations, which aligns directly with our mission—to provide care to those who lack access to essential services.
The Rohingya community represented one of the most vulnerable populations we had ever encountered. At the same time, humanitarian crises attract international organizations such as World Vision, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UNHCR, and other United Nations agencies.
We were able to work alongside these organizations, learning from them while also building partnerships. This strengthened our network and enhanced our credibility. As a result of our work in the Rohingya camps, we received international support and recognition, including awards. These developments helped us sustain and expand our services.
Jacobsen: In refugee settings, healthcare is often discussed in numbers. What human realities are missed when displacement is reduced to statistics?
Mahmood: That is an important question. Numbers are necessary—we need data on refugee populations and the number of patients treated. However, numbers do not capture the human reality.
The real story lies in individual experiences. Over the past eight years, I have met thousands of refugees, and each person has a story—stories of loss, suffering, resilience, and hope for the future. These lived experiences are not reflected in statistics.
Two encounters have stayed with me. Early in the crisis, I visited one of our clinics and met a woman holding a baby while waiting for treatment. When I spoke with her, she expressed gratitude to Bangladesh for providing shelter, food, and medical care.
However, she had lost seven family members, including her children and her husband. The baby in her arms was the only family she had left. Despite that immense loss, she remained grateful. I found that deeply moving.
In another case, a colleague of mine was treating a patient who had also lost his entire family. He had not slept for weeks due to trauma.
He told us he had not slept for many weeks. He was an elderly man, likely over 60 years old, which is significant in that context. I found myself wondering how someone could endure such prolonged sleeplessness and still continue. It spoke to the resilience of these individuals. Stories like this are everywhere.
The Rohingya people also lack statehood. Their citizenship was effectively stripped in 1982, leaving them without nationality. They are not recognized as citizens of any country. Even as refugees, they face profound uncertainty.
They do not know where they will go, what their future holds, or whether their children will receive an education. They lack the basic assurances that most people take for granted. There is no clear sense of stability or direction in their lives.
These are the realities that statistics do not capture—the depth of loss, the psychological impact, and the resilience of individuals facing unimaginable circumstances. To understand them, one must engage directly with individuals and hear their experiences.
Jacobsen: You live and practice in the United States—speaking from Florida now—while leading work rooted in Bangladesh. How has that dual perspective shaped your understanding of responsibility?
Mahmood: It has made a significant difference. I grew up in a remote part of Bangladesh, surrounded by poverty, hardship, and struggle. I experienced those conditions myself.
At the same time, I was fortunate. I was ambitious and able to pursue a medical degree, and later I came to the United States for advanced training. At that time, the United States represented an opportunity for higher education and professional development.
If I had remained in Bangladesh, it would have been much more difficult to establish the HOPE Foundation and expand its services. There are many structural challenges—social, financial, and institutional—that make large-scale initiatives difficult to sustain.
In contrast, being in the United States allowed me to focus, build networks, and access resources without the same level of daily struggle. I was able to connect with donors, partners, and supporters who played a critical role in building the organization.
I continue to travel regularly to Bangladesh, but my training and position in the United States have enabled me to mobilize support and serve millions of people through the HOPE Foundation.
Jacobsen: Humanitarian work depends on donor attention, not only funding. How can serious organizations sustain care once public attention fades?
Mahmood: This is a critical challenge. The Rohingya crisis began in 2017, and for the first few years it received significant global attention. It is one of the largest refugee situations in the world.
However, attention shifted with the emergence of other global crises, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Rohingya crisis has largely faded from public discourse, even though the population remains and continues to grow.
The needs have not diminished. Both the refugee population and the local communities still require support.
For organizations like ours, sustainability depends on diversified strategies. Humanitarian work cannot rely solely on external donor funding.
One approach is to generate local revenue. We have developed this model by operating hospitals that serve the host community. We charge affordable fees for services, which allows us to generate income and maintain operations.
This hybrid model—combining donor support with locally generated revenue—helps ensure continuity of care, even when global attention declines.
We are working to expand our services to support the refugee hospital, which does not generate revenue. We collaborate with partners to strengthen our local hospitals through equipment, infrastructure expansion, and construction. This allows us to increase revenue, and any surplus can be directed toward sustaining services in the refugee hospital.
The second key principle, from the beginning, has been quality. As a physician trained in the United States, quality and ethical service have always been my top priorities. These are the standards I learned during my training, and I wanted to apply the same principles in the hospitals we operate in Bangladesh.
Despite resource limitations, maintaining high standards of care is essential. We ensure that quality remains the top priority. When people visit our hospitals, they experience an environment comparable to an international facility, even in a rural setting. The hospitals are clean, infection-controlled, and staffed by professional personnel.
When donors visit, they are often impressed by the level of care and professionalism. As a result, they not only continue to support us but also advocate for us within their own networks.
Our reputation for quality and ethical service has helped us attract additional donors. Fundamentally, our approach is not to chase donors or partners, but to focus on delivering high-quality, ethical care. When we do that consistently, support follows.
We cannot control others, but we can improve ourselves. I regularly encourage my team to focus on continuous improvement—how to deliver better care and how to meet the expectations of our donors.
Every donor has a mandate, but at its core, that mandate is to ensure that recipients receive the best possible care. That is why they contribute. We aim to fulfill that responsibility, and fortunately, our donors have been satisfied with our work.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate it.
Mahmood: Thank you. It was a pleasure speaking with you. I appreciate the opportunity, and I hope we can stay in touch.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/06
Olena Kalaitan is a Ukrainian journalist and editor best known for leading Mariupol’s Pryazovskyi Robochyi newspaper and heading the Donetsk regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. During Russia’s 2022 siege of Mariupol, she stayed in the city for 23 days, survived the destruction of her home, and escaped on foot with her son. She later became a prominent voice for displaced journalists, media freedom, and the revival of independent Ukrainian journalism in occupied and war-affected regions. Kalaitan has also warned publicly against Russian propaganda issued under the stolen name of her newspaper during wartime occupation there.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Olena Kalaitan about girlhood under the late Soviet system and the transformation of women’s roles in Ukraine. Kalaitan contrasts Soviet expectations of labor inside and outside the home with today’s growing emphasis on women’s rights, independence, education, and professional ambition. She argues that war has accelerated this shift, pushing women into leadership, technical work, and military service while exposing the burdens carried by widows and mothers. The interview also explores the widening cultural and political divergence between Ukraine and Russia, with Ukrainian women increasingly defining themselves through freedom, resilience, identity, and national purpose today overall.
Olena Kalaitan is a colleague and expert associated with the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and the Journalists’ Solidarity Centers. The Journalists’ Solidarity Center of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine is a vital wartime hub helping Ukrainian and international reporters stay safe, connected, and operational through frontline danger, blackouts, displacement, and daily pressure on independent media.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How were girls brought up in the late Soviet Union, particularly within what is now Russian territory at that time? How were you socialized? What were the norms?
First, let us focus only on that period itself—growing up as a girl under the Soviet system. What kinds of expectations did society place on you? For example, the kinds of things girls were encouraged to do or discouraged from doing. Later, we can discuss how things changed from the 1970s to the 2020s, but first, let us talk about the Soviet upbringing itself.
Olena Kalaitan: Today, our society has become more feminist in some ways. Perhaps not as feminist as in the United States or some parts of Europe, but there are clear changes.
Many women still identify first as women and embrace traditional roles, but they are increasingly speaking out about their rights. For example, International Women’s Day on March 8 is no longer only a celebration with flowers and gifts. It is also a day when we speak about women’s rights and independence.
Women are entering professions that were once considered male, such as driving, factory work, and other technical fields. This represents a new direction in socialization, especially influenced by the realities of the war.
There have also been changes in language and public discussion around gender. We now have more conversations about gender roles and representation in society.
Women today are not seen as responsible only for family life. They continue to contribute to family life, of course, but they also play larger roles in society. Their voices and their rights become stronger each year.
Women now play a very important role in Ukrainian society. I recently read that about 70,000 women are serving in the Ukrainian armed forces. That is a very large number of women who have chosen to defend their homes and their country.
At the same time, the war has created many tragedies. I know many families with children whose husbands have died in the war. Even recently, we saw this among our colleagues—someone who had a successful and stable life suddenly found herself raising her children alone after losing her husband in the war.
She now has many difficulties. It starts with football for her younger son and continues with her older son’s education and direction. She also has two dogs and must take care of everything while caring for her children. It is not easy for women, but they remain strong.
Women today are ambitious, intelligent, and strong. A woman does not want only to be a mother or a wife. She also wants to develop herself and grow in knowledge.
I can say the same about myself. If I am calm and have nothing to do, I feel sad and begin searching for something new to learn or do. Many Ukrainian women see their future as becoming more intelligent, more experienced, and more knowledgeable.
Jacobsen: There was an argument during the Soviet period, sometimes described as women “holding the four corners.” Some people interpreted this to mean that women were expected to work both in and outside the home. In effect, it meant two full-time jobs—one paid and one unpaid.
Kalaitan: In reality, many women and men held two or even three jobs because the economy had to keep running, and life was expensive.
Jacobsen: When you look at Ukrainian society today and when you compare it with developments in the Russian Federation regarding the status of women, there seems to be a divergence. One example often discussed is the weakening of domestic violence protections in Russia.
Personally, I believe that neither husbands nor wives should ever physically abuse their partners. Violence is wrong except in self-defence, and even then, legal authorities should address it.
Setting that aside, in terms of legal, political, and professional status, how have the roles and rights of women diverged between the Russian Federation and Ukraine since the end of the Soviet Union? How have you seen that change during your lifetime?
Kalaitan: Today, we have many training and webinar sessions, and when I have free time, I participate in adult training programs. We have a program called “Maybutnie,” which means “Future” when translated. They offer courses about building a safe country and programs for students in schools.
It is a very interesting and important course. We have helped develop parts of it, and now they also offer versions for adults. They discuss topics such as energy security, identity, and national traditions.
These discussions show how our society has changed since Soviet times. Much of our socialization has shifted from Soviet models to Ukrainian ones.
Jacobsen: There has been a movement toward equality. If you look at objective measures—such as the number of women who have entered the United States’ special forces—it is still a very small number. The physical requirements are extremely demanding, and only a small fraction of men can meet them, so the number of women who can is even smaller.
However, when technological roles expand—such as operating drones or other machinery—those physical barriers become less important. In those cases, it becomes easier to move toward greater equality in military roles.
Historically, we have seen similar patterns during World War II, when women in Europe and North America took on positions previously held by men. Wartime dynamics make social roles more fluid.
How have you seen Ukrainian women—especially those raised in Russia but who identify as Ukrainian citizens—take on these roles? “Gender equality” is a broad term, but people interpret it differently culturally. How have women in Ukraine taken on new roles in ways that feel appropriate within Ukrainian society?
Kalaitan: Ukrainian women and Russian women are now very different. Ukrainian women today have a unity of thought and feeling. We understand the difficult time we are living through, and we share many common goals.
We live in a period when we must be ambitious and free in our intentions. We want to protect our identity and remain Ukrainian. Ukrainian women today are trying to develop in many directions.
A Ukrainian woman today is often described as intelligent, thoughtful, and strong. She wants to look good, dress well, and develop her abilities. She tries to succeed in different areas of life, including business and professions that were once considered difficult or traditionally male.
We see this clearly in the military. Around 70,000 Ukrainian women are serving in the armed forces, fighting for our country. It is not an easy role.
We also appreciate the women who are now alone with their families because their husbands have died in the war. It is a very difficult position. They must raise their children and maintain their families on their own. To do this, they need strong mental resilience, because protecting mental health in such circumstances is not easy.
These women try to find positive things in life and remain strong. Ukrainian society is becoming more effective at supporting development and growth. Many people understand that without this strength, we cannot survive.
Perhaps after the war, women will become an even stronger force in Ukrainian society than they were in previous generations.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Olena.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/07
Oleksandr Korzh is a Ukrainian defence technology instructor, drone pilot, and trainer with the volunteer organization Dignitas Ukraine. Drawing on frontline experience from the Russian-Ukrainian war, he focuses on the operational integration of unmanned systems, drone interception, and modern battlefield technologies. Korzh has helped train military personnel in the use of FPV drones, interceptor systems, and electronic warfare techniques while linking technology developers with combat units to accelerate innovation cycles. He has also participated in international defence-technology workshops and hackathons, sharing practical combat lessons with engineers and military professionals across Europe. His work reflects Ukraine’s rapid wartime adaptation in drone warfare and modern military training.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Oleksandr Korzh, a Ukrainian defence technology instructor and drone trainer with Dignitas Ukraine, about the realities of drone warfare and the growing but complex participation of women in drone units. Oleksandr Korzh explains that hundreds of women have joined drone operations, though the role has become increasingly dangerous as Russian forces deliberately target drone crews. He describes the harsh physical conditions, sleep deprivation, and constant threat from guided aerial bombs. Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Oleksandr Korzh also discuss Ukrainian cultural attitudes toward gender roles, battlefield logistics, and how drones have transformed the war’s strategic dynamics.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: About the Ukrainian armed forces, as with many armed forces in democratic countries seeking to become more democratic and free, participation tends to expand as societies become more open. In such systems, women increasingly seek equal opportunity, and many men support greater equality with women.
There are certain areas where achieving equal representation can be more difficult. Special forces and roles that require extremely demanding physical standards are often male-dominated because their selection requirements are very high. Opportunities must remain open, but it would be unrealistic to expect a 50–50 balance in some of these fields. In drone operations, however, the physical demands are generally different, so the traditional gender divide is less relevant.
What percentage of women are involved in drone operations? What is the trend? How is representation developing within drone units or battalions? How are women integrated into these roles within the current Ukrainian forces?
Historically, most drone operators were men, particularly in the early phases of the war. However, more women have increasingly entered this field. A colleague of mine, a former competitive tennis player who nearly went professional, is considering entering drone operations. She is young and has excellent eyesight.
Drone operations are a viable pathway. For comparison, in countries such as the United States, elite units like Delta Force, U.S. Army Special Forces, and the Navy SEALs have historically included very few women because of the extreme physical demands of their selection and operational requirements. The issue is less about formal exclusion today and more about the difficulty of meeting those standards.
That context is why I raise the question about drones. Two years ago, many Ukrainian women began using drones primarily for reconnaissance missions. This is an example of a role within the armed forces that could allow greater female participation.
Oleksandr Korzh: Hundreds of young women have since joined drone-related units across Ukraine’s armed forces. The situation later became more dangerous as Russian forces began deliberately targeting drone crews—operators, pilots, and navigators—because drones play such a central role in modern battlefield reconnaissance and strike operations. Casualties among drone teams, including women, have been reported, and these losses have had a significant emotional and symbolic impact within Ukrainian military society, prompting public discussion and media coverage.
There were many media reports about these dramatic cases, and everyone understood that being a pilot or a drone operator, even in the rear, is not a safe role. As a result, fewer girls and women wanted to join these divisions. Some still want to join, but the percentage remains low. I understand well what this is connected with. It is not only because of the danger.
It is also because the work is physically very demanding. It is tough work. We sometimes have to operate for several nights in a row. We work in bad weather conditions. We often have to hide in almost destroyed houses with no sanitation, poor food, and sometimes no water. Drone missions near the front line are not only dangerous but also physically very difficult.
Jacobsen: Is sleep deprivation a major part of that job?
Korzh: Yes. Ukrainian society, including the military community, remains patriotic and somewhat traditional. Many soldiers think, “This is our country, this is our land, and we will defend it. Women can help us in the rear—raising children and helping them grow up healthy and educated—while we ensure security.”
This is not because the Ukrainian nation is at a low level of women’s liberation. Rather, it reflects traditions shaped by our history and social patterns.
For example, in countries such as the United States, Canada, and the Nordic countries, many women split the bill 50–50 at restaurants. I will not go into the reasons for that. In Ukraine, men still usually want to pay the bill—not because we want to dominate, but because it reflects a sense of dignity and a willingness to care.
During wartime, it is still very difficult for women to carry all these responsibilities, and many men feel a strong desire to protect and care for them. This does not mean that women are weak. They are not weak. They are very strong.
Jacobsen: I should add a humorous point. More than one Ukrainian man—friend or colleague has told me that the thing he fears most is an angry Slavic woman. That clearly does not describe weakness. It reflects a cultural reality.
So if I add that humorous observation, which has some truth to it, alongside your commentary, the idea in Ukrainian terms is that there is a traditional culture. However, this traditional culture does not imply a relationship of domination and subordination. Rather, it reflects a division that is often practical, especially during wartime.
To understand Ukrainians properly, people need to meet Ukrainians on Ukrainian terms. Cultural frameworks from places like Norway, parts of the United States, such as New York or Los Angeles, or much of Canada may capture part of the truth, but they do not fully reflect the Ukrainian context. Those external frameworks can overlay some meaning, but they do not always capture the deeper cultural picture.
The joke about being afraid of an angry Slavic woman illustrates that Ukrainian women assert themselves strongly, even under current conditions. Friends or colleagues may joke that the most frightening thing is an angry Slavic woman, but the humour reflects an underlying respect for their strength.
Jacobsen: What do the men who serve on drone operation teams report as the hardest parts of the job? What are the most difficult aspects for them?
Korzh: The difficulties are largely the same. Being on the front line in a war is exhausting. This likely applies to Russian drone operators as well. The constant fatigue is one of the hardest parts.
The most difficult task is remaining well hidden and avoiding detection.
Russia uses guided aerial bombs—large bombs equipped with wings and control systems that allow them to glide to a target from long distances. Many of these are older Soviet bombs that have been modified with guidance kits and control surfaces to strike precise targets.
If a Russian reconnaissance drone identifies the probable location of one of our drone crews—for example, in a small building, a house, or an underground shelter—they may launch several guided bombs from long distances, sometimes from over 100 kilometres away. Each of these weapons costs many thousands of dollars.
They would not typically use such expensive guided bombs against a single infantry soldier. However, they may use them to destroy a suspected drone team or even eliminate the possibility that drone operators could use the location in the future. That is why drone activity has become so dangerous, even in the rear. Russian forces observe drone operation teams and treat them as high-priority targets.
Jacobsen: The highest priority?
Korzh: Yes, among the highest priorities. They know that our drone capabilities are highly developed—not only our drone units but also our broader drone industry.
Russia also has a strong drone unit called Rubicon. It is one of their best drone divisions and is very dangerous. They operate in the air, at sea, and with ground-based unmanned systems. However, Ukraine has many more drone units, and in many cases, they operate at a very high level.
As a result, Russian forces lose large amounts of equipment. For example, they may lose around two hundred vehicles in a day. These are vehicles used for logistics—delivering food, transporting crews, and moving soldiers to the front line.
Jacobsen: That is an important point from the media perspective. In much Western media coverage—not all, but much of it—there are frequent reports about Russian casualties, while Ukrainian losses receive less attention. That creates an imbalance in public perception. Reporting here is also limited. There are fewer foreign journalists now, even though the scale of the war continues to increase. It has not slowed down.
The figures I saw suggested that Ukrainian leadership estimated Russian casualties—killed and wounded—at over thirty thousand in some recent months, with targets even higher than that.
Korzh: From a strategic perspective, the goal is to destroy more Russian forces than they can recruit each month.
Jacobsen: A kind of attrition—a “meat grinder,” as the English phrase goes. When people hear a number like 200 destroyed vehicles, they may not realize it represents a whole system being disrupted. The war machine: artillery, drones, missiles, soldiers, and drone teams.
Korzh: And logistics, it is the blood of war. If we destroy tactical logistics, we can slow or stop the occupation.
Jacobsen: I have noticed something during my time here. I have been in Kyiv for more than a month, about five weeks, and the bombing seems less frequent than before. Is that partly connected to disruptions on the Russian side—for example, issues with communications platforms or other logistical problems?
Korzh: That could be part of the process. I do not know the exact reasons regarding their communications decisions, but if it complicates their coordination, it is good for us.
Jacobsen: Any final words?
Korzh: Unfortunately, I need to return to my classes.
Jacobsen: Of course. Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/05
Olga Sagaidak is a Ukrainian cultural manager, curator, and art historian who chairs the board of the Coalition of Cultural Actors of Ukraine and co-founded Dofa.fund. Trained in art history, she also co-founded the Korners auction house, where she worked in the art and antiquities market before reorienting toward cultural activism after 2014. Sagaidak served on, and later chaired, the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Institute from 2019 to 2022. In 2022, she was appointed the Ukrainian Institute’s representative in France and helped launch Printemps Ukrainien, a cultural diplomacy initiative presenting contemporary Ukrainian culture to French and European audiences abroad.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Olga Sagaidak about how Russia’s war against Ukraine reshapes family life, gendered burdens, and the cultural sector. Sagaidak describes men’s restricted movement, women’s displacement, family separations, and the strain of prolonged uncertainty. She reflects on artists serving abroad, colleagues fighting at the front, and the postwar challenge of rebuilding fractured professional communities. Drawing on her own family’s experience, she weighs survival, civic duty, cultural resistance, and the risks of occupation. Her reflections distinguish price from value, showing how war makes ordinary things—home, safety, return—profoundly precious to many Ukrainians under extreme pressure.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Are you noticing any trends in how women and men are adapting to the war? Their circumstances are very different. Many men may be conscripted, while some women choose to go to the front lines voluntarily. The contexts are not the same.
The artistic community is also very tightly connected. Many artists know one another. When someone goes to the front line, dies, or leaves the country, it changes the social dynamics and cultural exchange within that community.
Olga Sagaidak: One of the most painful consequences of the war is how it destroys private lives and relationships. Many families have been separated by distance and time. Often, men remain in Ukraine while women leave the country with their children. Over time, they begin to build new lives abroad.
Meanwhile, the men remain in Ukraine. Sometimes relationships survive, sometimes they do not. Four years is a very long time for couples to live apart.
In many ways, men in Ukraine now experience strong restrictions. They cannot easily leave the country. From their perspective, their freedoms are more limited than before. Saying that to a Western audience can sometimes sound politically incorrect, but it is part of the reality people are living through.
Fortunately, I am not a political person. Building communication between the state and citizens in Ukraine requires trust. In the first days of the war, Ukrainians showed enormous trust in their government and institutions.
The decision to close the borders to most men was a mistake. Those who were afraid or determined to leave still found ways to depart, often through money or connections. It was possible for them. Meanwhile, ordinary people followed the rules. But it is war, and when rules are established during wartime, people try to follow them.
In my own family, my husband stayed in Kyiv. He is a professor at the art academy and works as a painting restorer. The first time I opened Le Monde after arriving in Paris, there was a photograph on the front page showing my husband and his colleagues protecting a large museum object. He remained in Kyiv. Because he is a professor, he has a state reservation from mobilization, but he still lives with the understanding that he could be mobilized at any time.
Joining the army was never part of his plan. He is fifty-two years old and not especially athletic or in perfect health. But he is prepared if it becomes necessary. That was his decision. He was able to visit me twice in Paris with special permission because of his limited travel status. However, he never considered staying abroad with us. He always returned to Kyiv.
In our case, we managed to preserve our family. But I recognize that this is not always the outcome. If I had stayed abroad for more than two years, our situation might have been very different.
Many families have been broken apart. I know many couples who are no longer together. I know many children who are now separated from either their father or their mother. I also know women who decided to join the army. In some cases, they experienced discrimination, although this situation is slowly changing.
The Ukrainian army still carries some Soviet institutional traditions, but it is evolving. Today, many more women serve in the armed forces.
Jacobsen: These seem like important concerns about rights and equality. At the same time, people here in Eastern Europe often appear very realistic about life during war. In that situation, survival becomes the primary concern, while other issues become secondary. They are still important, but survival comes first. Is that fair?
Sagaidak: Yes, I think so. If the war continues, more and more of us may eventually have to take some role in the defence effort. I have even thought about it myself. I am no longer young, so I may not be suited for combat roles. But in the military, there are many kinds of work. Not every role requires being on the front line.
For artists and people working in culture, the war is not necessarily more painful than it is for journalists, scientists, or people in IT. However, artists had one particular opportunity. Many received special permission from the Ministry of Culture to travel abroad and represent Ukraine internationally.
In reality, some artists used that opportunity to remain abroad. One of the major challenges after the war will be rebuilding professional communities that now include people with very different wartime experiences.
Some people spent years on the front line. Others left the country. Their lives have diverged significantly.
For example, in 2024, I organized a forum on cultural heritage and called a colleague who is an excellent architectural restoration specialist. When I reached him, he answered from the front. He told me, “I am currently in a tank unit. I am not thinking about restoration now. I am thinking about my tank.”
People like him have served more than 4 years in the military. They have almost no chance to return to their professional lives unless they are injured or the war ends. It is our responsibility, for those of us who remain in civilian roles, to continue pushing the state to create conditions that will allow these people to return.
But that creates difficult questions. If a colleague who is a theatre director or cultural leader returns from the army, they should take the leadership position I currently hold. That is an existential dilemma.
I don’t know what the right answer is. I am also a mother. My son is thirteen years old. If the war continues, he will soon be sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen, and he could eventually be mobilized. I hope very much that the war will end before he reaches adulthood.
Still, we must always think about plan B. My husband and I discuss these possibilities very seriously because we are very close. For example, we sometimes ask ourselves what we would do if Kyiv were occupied.
I know that I could not remain in an occupied city. People like me—cultural activists—would likely be among the first to be arrested or imprisoned under a Russian system. Journalists, especially independent journalists, would face the same risk. We have already seen this in places such as Kherson and Mariupol. Cultural activists were among the first people targeted.
If you do not serve their propaganda system, you become a threat to it. So if I ever saw a real possibility that Kyiv might be occupied, I would have to leave. The only other option would be to join the army—perhaps even in a tank unit.
Jacobsen: The same idea applies here. Not everything that glitters is gold.
Sagaidak: Yes, exactly. Sometimes we discuss this in Ukrainian using two very similar words. One word means price, and the other means value. They sound almost the same in pronunciation. One refers to the cost of something, while the other refers to its deeper worth.
In Ukrainian, we often say that not everything valuable costs a lot of money, and sometimes inexpensive things have enormous value. During war, very simple things suddenly become extremely valuable.
For example, during the two years I spent in France, one of the things I dreamed about most was sleeping in my own bed at home again. My apartment is on Shchekavytsia Hill, one of the oldest hills in Kyiv, where the city’s early settlement began. I live at the very top of the hill in a duplex apartment on the top floor.
When drones fly over the city, they sometimes pass very close to it. From my bed, under the roof, you can hear them clearly as they move across the sky. Even with that risk, I still prefer to sleep in my own bed. In war, simple things like that become incredibly meaningful.
On the other hand, when we left our apartment on February 25, 2022, we had to make very quick decisions. Because of my previous work in the art world, we had a good collection of paintings. But when we were preparing to leave, we took only the essentials—our documents, money, and the car.
I looked at the paintings on the wall and realized we could take almost nothing. We packed only five paintings into the car.
After that, for many weeks and months, I was not in Kyiv, and I had no certainty about what had happened to our apartment or our belongings. In my mind, I said goodbye to everything we owned.
What I missed most was our small country house near Kyiv. It is located in Makariv, in the direction of Bucha and Irpin. During the first weeks of the invasion, missiles were flying over that area because Russian and Ukrainian forces were fighting nearby. Many buildings in the region were destroyed.
Our house stands in the center of the village. At one point, a Ukrainian tank entered our yard and destroyed part of the wall before taking position there. Despite everything happening around it, the house itself survived.
When I finally saw it again and realized it was still standing, I felt incredibly happy.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Olga.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/04
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Anastasia Bura (Translator, English-Ukrainian)
Liubov Polischuk is a Ukrainian interview participant whose recollections focus on Soviet and post-Soviet life. In the conversation, she discusses scarcity, propaganda, military surroundings, restricted travel, prayer, and Ukrainian independence. Her comments emphasize lived experience across political change, including daily survival, faith, memory, and wartime moral perspective over several decades. Tetiana Shuliaka is a Ukrainian interview participant describing civilian life during Russia’s war against Ukraine. In the conversation, she recounts nightly drone threats, prayer, fear of missile strikes, and the pressures of self-defence. Her remarks connect contemporary danger to longer Soviet patterns of military industry and constrained freedom for civilians. Anastasia Bura is the youngest participant in this group discussion and is the translator (English-Ukrainian) in this interview.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Liubov Polischuk, Tetiana Shuliaka, and Anastasia Bura about womanhood, family, emotional restraint, and war in Ukraine. Polischuk reflects on Soviet and post-Soviet life, marriage, labor, faith, and generational expectations of men. Shuliaka describes her responsibilities as a doctor, mother, and daughter while treating soldiers and civilians during wartime. Bura, serving as translator and participant, explains cultural patterns around masculinity, communication, and emotional control. Together, they explore marriage, forgiveness, independence, wartime love, and how war reshapes ordinary life, relationships, and moral endurance across generations in contemporary Ukraine through intimate testimony and lived memory.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: From your personal experience, how has it felt to be a woman in Ukraine over time, especially in professional life?
Tetiana Shuliaka: I see myself in many roles. I am a mother and part of a family. I am a doctor who feels responsible for my patients. I am a daughter who cares for my mother. I am an older sister who tries to guide and support others. I do not like to focus on myself, but I am a very responsible person. I often feel that responsibility constantly and cannot fully relax. Like many women, I would like to have time for myself, for ordinary things in life, but responsibility is always there.
During the war, this feeling has become even stronger. I treat soldiers and also help civilians who are suffering. Many people have been displaced or traumatized. As a doctor, I realize that I must also act as a psychologist, helping people cope emotionally. Before the war, we did not think much about this role, but now it has become an important part of my work and my duty to others.
I have my relatives here, including my mother. I have always felt a strong sense of responsibility, both before the war and now. I have a good son, a good husband, and a good mother. I have a stable and supportive family. I live a comfortable life. I have an apartment, a house, and everything I need. I have achieved this because I am a responsible person. This is only my personal view. My mother can speak for herself, but I can also speak about our family. She has been successful and, as a result, has built a stable life. She has everything she needs—a home, security, and the ability to take care of herself.
I have a comfortable life because I have everything I need. My children, my mother, and my relatives are healthy, and my family has stability. I believe this comes from being a responsible person who can carry many responsibilities. The war has changed my work as well. Now I must not only be a doctor in the medical sense but also something like a psychologist. I treat soldiers and must help them not only physically but also emotionally and mentally.
But my life is not only work. I also sew and embroider. I have a garden and a small country house where I grow flowers and tomatoes and prepare preserves. My happiness is tied to my work and activities. I admit that sometimes I may be overloaded, but perhaps that is why I do not fall into depression or thoughts of despair. I encourage people to have hobbies and meaningful activities. Even as doctors, we have taken special training courses. If I see that someone close to me has fallen into depression for more than a month and has stopped taking care of themselves, I should recognize this and help them. We support people so that no one becomes isolated or overwhelmed. There is a great deal of grief around us. If you look honestly at the situation, you will see suffering everywhere. But we must endure. As our soldiers say, we must survive this war one day at a time.
Shuliaka: Would you like to add something? I would also like to hear about you.
Liubov Polischuk: I am a pensioner now. I am seventy-eight years old. Because my husband was in the military, we moved frequently from place to place, and I worked wherever I could. My first profession was as an engineer and mechanic. I also trained as a railway technician and worked in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far East. Later, we moved again and lived in Poland for several years. Throughout my life, I worked in different positions whenever we relocated.
I always tried to live as a responsible woman and mother. When we had little money, I sewed and knitted clothes for my children. I did everything I could for my family. I worked hard to make sure my children studied well and had opportunities in life. For several years, I hired tutors for them so they could succeed in school. I also took care of my husband and my household. Many women stayed home, but I worked as well. In Kyiv, I held several different jobs. I worked in a supply department, later as a chemist at a pharmaceutical factory, and in other positions as needed.
When my husband died at the age of forty-four, all the responsibility for the family fell on my shoulders. I had to care for my children and support my family. My mother still lived in the village, and we visited her often. We also rented a small summer house for the family. That is how we lived and worked. I am simply part of my family. That is how I would describe myself.
I worked constantly throughout my life and learned many different professions. I have always been a very hardworking person. I supported my family and cared for my children. I wanted them to receive a good education, so I hired tutors for them, even when money was tight. I made sure they were well cared for and properly dressed. When my husband died, the entire responsibility for the family fell on me. I took whatever jobs were available wherever we lived.
Now I work on my own creative projects. I do embroidery by hand. I sew pictures and decorative works. If you visit our home, you will see many of these pieces. They are handmade. This was also my husband’s hobby, and it became mine as well. I cannot live without work or activity. I have many embroidered pictures, often with religious themes. There are icons as well. In our tradition, we keep icons in the home. When my daughter married, she and her husband did not have icons. They were married in the Emirates, and I believed it was important that they be blessed with icons. So I brought them icons when I visited Canada.
I would divide Ukrainian men today into three groups: those who fight, those who left the country, and those who stayed. Many who stayed continue working because the state granted them exemptions from military service to maintain essential economic activity. They pay taxes and support the country in that way. Some also try to avoid military service and hide from mobilization. As in any country, I believe that people must make their own choices and take responsibility for them. A man should have the ability to make his own choices.
Today, men are more modern. In the past, they had far fewer opportunities to develop themselves. Many men worked for a salary and had little chance to build their own businesses or careers. Today, the situation is different. Men can start businesses, pursue education, and develop themselves more quickly. In the past, opportunities for advancement were limited, so it is difficult to compare generations directly. Many men in the Soviet period worked only for wages because there were few alternatives. Today it is different. Some men are satisfied with what they already have, while others continue to push forward and develop themselves further.
Jacobsen: I remember a small cultural moment in Kyiv that I found interesting as a foreigner. I was staying with a friend who lives in the Pechersk district. One morning, I asked him how he was doing. He replied, “I am going to the gym.” Baffling, he answered what he was going to be doing and where he was going in general terms – no feelings. I found it amusing and wondered whether that reflects how men socially respond in Ukraine.
Anastasia Bura: May I answer that question, please?
Jacobsen: Of course.
Bura: In Ukraine, people often answer questions practically rather than discussing their feelings. If someone asks how you are doing, you might answer by describing what you are doing rather than how you feel. It reflects a practical mindset. Traditionally, men were raised to believe they should not cry or openly express their emotions. They were told to be strong and not show vulnerability. Because of that upbringing, many men still keep their feelings to themselves. It was even stronger in previous generations. Today, attitudes are changing. For example, I would not tell my son not to cry because he is a man. Older generations were raised more strictly with that expectation.
Jacobsen: In that tradition, the idea was that a man should be judged not by what he says but by what he does. Actions mattered more than words. People would ask, “What did you actually do?” Feelings were considered less important. What mattered was the result of your actions.
Bura: Personally, I think that in many post-Soviet countries, men were raised to suppress their emotions. They were not encouraged to show pain or vulnerability.
Jacobsen: Emphasize that phrase.
Bura: Yes, men were raised almost like unemotional beings. They were not allowed to express their feelings openly.
Jacobsen: “Creatures” makes it sound like something emerging from under a bridge at night.
Bura: Yes, that is not quite what I meant. I meant human beings who were raised without permission to express real emotions. They were expected to be strong at all times. A common phrase was, “Do not cry—you are a man.” Many boys grew up hearing that. Only recently has that begun to change. My generation has mostly stopped telling our sons not to cry, though not everyone has abandoned that idea. Men are still often raised with the expectation that they must remain strong and emotionally controlled.
Shuliaka: It was almost like an unwritten rule. Your male friend: When you asked how he was doing, he answered with what he was doing. In that tradition, men are often judged by their actions rather than their words. For example, a woman might say, “How many flowers has he given me?”
Jacobsen: In North America, there is a phrase: “Words are cheap.” When I think about it, that phrase has a similar masculine tone. When I travel and spend time in other cultures, translation technology can help with language. Still, it does not fully capture social meaning. When you live inside the culture for a while, you start to notice patterns in everyday interactions. Moments like the one with my friend stand out. When I asked him how he was doing, meaning how he felt, he answered, “I am going to the gym.”
From his perspective, that answer communicated that he was doing well. He was active, strong, and functioning as a capable Ukrainian man. The emotional language itself was not necessary. In that sense, men may express their feelings through actions rather than words, while women often express those experiences verbally. It creates a noticeable cultural distinction between genders. You can find similar patterns in North America, but there is also more variation there. Sometimes people do not know what to expect from those roles anymore. Every society negotiates these trade-offs in its own way.
Bura: Yes, that is a very noticeable difference in our culture, and it is quite strong.
Jacobsen: When you were falling in love, building relationships, and having children, what did you want or expect from the men in your life? What did you hope for in a partner? How did those expectations look in your relationship with your husband?
Liubov Polischuk: Since we belong to different generations, I think about what women expected from men in each period. When I was younger and looking for a husband, certain qualities mattered to me. If I begin with my grandmother’s generation, she wanted a man who was a good хозяйственник—a good provider and caretaker of the household. In the village where she lived, that meant a man who could manage everything: work the land, care for animals, repair the house, and make sure food was brought home. He needed a profession and the ability to support the family.
In my parents’ generation, the man was clearly the primary provider. He was responsible for supporting the household and making sure the family’s needs were met. My father was like that. He tried to do everything—organize family life and work, slaughter pigs for food, repair the house, and fix roofs. He made sure the household functioned properly.
In my own generation, it was still important for a man to have a profession and a stable position in society. That is one reason I chose a husband who was older than I was, because he had already built a career. When it came to my marriage, I wanted a man who had already established himself in life. My husband, Slavik, was nine years older than I was. By that time, he was already a captain and a doctor. He had a profession and stability. That mattered to my family as well.
In the earliest generation, men were expected to manage the household and help with all practical work, especially in rural areas where families had livestock and agricultural responsibilities. Women needed men who were reliable in maintaining the household and supporting the family, someone who could help sustain the home and family life.
Jacobsen: A wolf that has been trained.
Liubov Polischuk: Exactly—a strong person you can rely on.
Jacobsen: How old were you when you first fell in love, and how old were you when you married?
Liubov Polischuk: It happened very quickly.
Jacobsen: In one day?
Liubov Polischuk: Yes, in one day.
Tetiana Shuliaka: She saw him in the evening, and he proposed the same day.
Jacobsen: Really?
Tetiana Shuliaka: Yes, seriously.
Bura: It was not a joke. They truly fell in love.
Jacobsen: How old were you at that time?
Liubov Polischuk: I was twenty, and he was twenty-nine.
Jacobsen: Some people might call that infatuation.
Liubov Polischuk: He told me that he had never met someone so sincere before.
Jacobsen: Jacobsen: That is a very sweet thing to say. I will share an example from my own family. My Dutch grandparents met before the Second World War. My grandmother lived to be ninety-six years old and died many years ago. My grandfather died much earlier. I never met him because he had been born prematurely and had serious lung problems from early in life.
As history shows, Germany went to war with much of the world during the Second World War and ultimately lost. My grandfather was part of the Dutch underground resistance. He learned German and fought against the Nazis. During those years, he wrote love letters to my grandmother for six years while he was involved in the resistance.
For six years, he wrote letters to her, but she did not respond. When the war ended, he returned to the farm where she lived. He still hoped to see her again, even though she had never replied to his letters. Six years without a response, and he continued writing.
When he finally saw her again, he asked why she had never answered his letters.
“What letters?”
Jacobsen: She had never received them. At that time, many families had traditions that the eldest sister should marry first.
Bura: Yes, similar traditions existed in Ukraine.
Jacobsen: It turned out that her older brothers had intercepted the letters for six years. During the war, you never knew whether people would survive. By chance, they both did survive. Eventually, the truth came out, the situation was resolved, and they decided to start a new life together. Later, they emigrated to Canada and continued farming there.
In Canada, they became Dutch farmers, in Ontario, near Toronto. They had three sons and two daughters. My grandfather died before I was born, and my grandmother died many years later at the age of ninety-six. I met her a few times.
I am reflecting on the contrast between your story of falling in love and marrying very quickly and the long life of my grandparents, who lived together through many historical events.
Polischuk: My husband came into my life in a rather unusual way. I had first met his uncle. His uncle liked me and said he wanted to introduce me to his nephew. Later, when my future husband, Igor, was on vacation in Kyiv, his uncle told him, “You should go to Samara and meet a good woman there.” At first, he did not want to go. He said, “Why should I travel from Kyiv all the way to Samara just to meet someone you recommend?” But eventually he decided to go.
When he arrived in Samara and saw me stepping off the train, he immediately decided that he would not leave Samara without me.
Jacobsen: That sounds very determined. Did it take much persuasion after that?
Polischuk: About three to five days.
Jacobsen: Three to five days. At that time, what was the best way for a woman to encourage a man to commit to a relationship?
Polischuk: Somehow.
[Laughing among all three women.]
Bura: Perhaps she does not want to reveal all of her secrets.
Jacobsen: That may be the first rule of the secret craft of women, Female Freemasonry.
Polischuk: My father was a war correspondent during the Second World War. He participated in the liberation of Budapest and Vienna. During the war, he was wounded and became disabled. In our family, men were highly respected. My father had a strong presence in our lives. When I was born, he was already a captain. Later, he became a senior officer in a military medical unit and eventually headed a hospital and a separate medical battalion. He had a certain status in the family. Even though he was often on duty, we always knew that we had a father. My mother managed most of the daily matters—food, clothing, and household life—but he remained an important figure for us.
Shuliaka: When I married, I wanted a man who would be worthy of that role in the family. I did not want a husband who would stand below me in life, because by that time I was already a doctor. I wanted someone with a profession and dignity.
My husband and I met through mutual friends. He was an IT specialist who had studied at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. I respected that because it meant he was educated and capable, and he respected that I was a doctor. We felt that we were equals. I also wanted to be interested in him intellectually, not only to have a provider.
Over the years, he has continued to surprise me with his actions. He has a very analytical mind as an IT specialist. He does not speak much about feelings. Sometimes I ask him, “Valera, why do you not tell me that you love me?” And he answers, “Do you not see how much I have done for you?” That is his way of expressing love. We have lived together for thirty-three years. I asked him that question once, and I did not need to ask again. That is his character. Actions rather than emotional expressions or words—that approach is very cultural.
For me, a man should still be the support of the family. Even though both partners may work and share responsibilities, I still want the man to be someone you can rely on, someone with strong shoulders to lean on.
In our family, we try to help one another so that everything works out well. We share responsibilities and support our children. Marriage is very important to us. Ideally, a person marries once and builds a life together. My mother married once. I married once. I hope the same for my children. Divorce and starting new families can be very difficult, especially for children. Children suffer when families break apart. I am grateful that my children did not have to grow up with situations like a mother’s boyfriend or a father’s girlfriend.
In our family, the men have always been the foundation. None of them was an irresponsible person. They were worthy men, and that is the example we try to follow. The men in my family, both my father and Tetiana’s father, were respected and responsible people who held important positions in society. Because of that example, I also wanted a husband who was strong, dignified, and serious in his profession.
We believe it is important to educate children well, teach them how to behave with others, and guide them in life. Slavik, for example, is the result of our upbringing. You have worked with him, so you know him. Raising children requires effort and attention. Parents must be involved and set expectations. That is how families remain strong.
I wanted the same kind of reliability for my children’s marriages. For example, I have a daughter, and we helped her decide whom to marry. Before she found the right partner, there were three other suitors. Each of them was politely discouraged by the family. We believe that marriage should ideally happen once in a lifetime, because the decision influences not only the couple but also their children. Because of this belief, we try to guide our children carefully in choosing a partner.
Jacobsen: What is your generation’s expectations about men, Anastasia?
Bura: Yes. In my generation, many women want a partner who is reliable and who has his own professional position. But he should not only be a financial provider. He should also be a companion, someone who motivates and understands his partner. The relationship should be based on equality. Both partners have their own rights, opinions, and hobbies. Ideally, those interests overlap, but even when they do not, each partner should respect and understand the other’s passions. For me, it is important that my partner supports what matters to me and that we share something meaningful beyond simply raising children and managing a household. There should also be a deeper emotional connection. Sometimes that emotional connection is more difficult because many men were raised in the Soviet tradition, where fathers and grandfathers were taught not to express emotions openly.
Jacobsen: They went to the gym a lot.
Bura: Yes, exactly. Even if men do not go to the gym, they still feel the need to stay active and keep doing something. For example, my husband is always busy. I rarely see him simply relaxing or thinking quietly. He is always working on something. During the war, this became even more intense. Perhaps he feels he is not doing enough compared to the men fighting for Ukraine. Because he is not on the front line, he may feel that he must compensate by taking on more work and more projects. He keeps himself constantly occupied. That creates a challenge for our family life, because sometimes I would like him to be more present with our family and with me. This is not only my situation. Many of my friends experience something similar with their husbands.
Jacobsen: When women talk about this among themselves, what words do they use to describe the situation? Women’s expectations have changed across generations. At the same time, men often continue along a trajectory similar to that of their fathers. How do women describe their frustrations? And what do they do about it? Do they divorce, accept it, or try to work through it
Polischuk: I did not have very serious conflicts in my marriage. If something difficult had happened, I would have tried to talk about it first. I loved my husband very much, so I would have forgiven certain mistakes. Of course, there are limits. If something truly unacceptable had happened, I might have left.
I am capable of supporting myself and living independently. However, when we were younger, I needed to stay in Kyiv so my children could study there, which made separation more complicated. Still, my first response would have been to communicate and try to reach an understanding. If we could solve the problem and continue living well together, then the marriage would continue. But if the situation became impossible, then I would leave.
Shuliaka:I would also try to resolve problems through communication. I would explain my point of view and try to find a shared solution with my husband. In most cases, when difficulties arose, my husband made efforts to meet me halfway, and we reached a compromise. However, if that had not happened, I would have left the relationship, because I value my independence and would not accept anything I found unacceptable.
As for me, I also try to resolve problems through communication. But if my husband does not understand or does not change something important, I might eventually consider leaving. At the moment, during the war, I would not want to make such a difficult decision. We also have two small children, and I do not want to break the family during such a stressful time. But after the war, if the same problems remain unresolved and the situation still does not satisfy me, I am independent enough to make that decision if necessary.
Jacobsen: What about you, Anastasia? Have you already decided how you would handle such situations?
Bura: For now, I will wait until the war ends. During the war, it is very difficult to make major life decisions. Everyone is under emotional strain. It is better to wait until the war is over and see whether things change. If nothing changes, I am still young. I am twenty-seven years old, and I still have much of my life ahead of me.
Shuliaka: Yes, it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages. As psychologists sometimes advise, you can make a list of positives and negatives. When you look at them clearly, you can better understand the situation. In my case, I always knew that if something truly serious happened, I could return to my mother for support. These circumstances influence decisions. My situation was different. When we lived in the Far East, I needed to come to Kyiv. My children had to study there, and the family situation made that possible.
Bura: Yes, you were more independent in that sense.
Polischuk: Yes. Life circumstances shape what choices are possible. Now I have children and responsibilities. When you have a family, you must think carefully before making decisions like divorce. Families often go through many difficult situations. Sometimes the stories that happen in families could fill an entire film. But in the end, you try to keep stability and move forward.
Bura: If a woman is independent, she has more freedom to choose her own path. But if she depends on someone else, she often has to adjust to that situation.
Jacobsen: How do Ukrainians approach forgiveness? When there is a serious conflict with friends, family members, or partners, how do people give and receive forgiveness?
Polischuk: In my case, if there are very serious conflicts and we cannot reconcile, I distance myself from those people. I stop communicating with them and move on. I try to forget the situation and avoid mentioning it again. However, I value friendship very much. I still have friends from school and from technical college, as well as colleagues with whom I worked for many years. With true friends, I forgive many things. I try not to create conflicts and sometimes pretend I did not hear something hurtful. I prefer to live peacefully. But if someone begins to interfere with my life or cause serious harm, I separate myself from them and continue living my life with the people I trust and care about. I do not know whether this is the perfect approach, but it is how I have learned to live.
Bura: Sometimes it is difficult to find common ground with people. However, there are certain friends I have known since school or college. With those friends, I can forgive almost anything because our connection is very strong, and those relationships are very valuable to me.
Shuliaka: As for me, my attitude toward people depends on how close they are to me. If something unpleasant happens to someone in my immediate family—my children, my mother, or my sister—I treat it differently. My mother can say anything to me, and I can respond openly to her, and we will not remain offended.
When it comes to friends, colleagues, or more distant acquaintances, friendship also requires effort. You must maintain contact, meet occasionally, exchange gifts, and invest time. Friendship is also work. But if someone has very different values or a completely different worldview, I reduce contact with that person. I communicate less and create some distance. Usually, the person understands this without needing an explanation. In general, I treat my close circle differently from people who are less central to my life. The cold shoulder.
Sometimes people ask why I do not say anything directly or start an argument. But I prefer not to escalate conflicts. My mother endured many things in her life, but I do not feel the need to suffer in the same way. I have two children, and I must think about them as well.
I am not the kind of person who humiliates others or tries to offend people. But if someone humiliates me, I will permanently distance myself from them. I do not try to punish people, but I remove them from my life. That may be part of my personality.
I also believe that when you marry someone, you do not marry only that person. You marry their family too. Sometimes there may be only one or two people in that family who are truly reasonable, perhaps even fewer. But if you build a good life with your husband and your family functions well together, then that is what matters.
Bura: In simple terms, it means that marriage sometimes brings difficult relationships, especially with extended family. There is a common saying that you do not marry only the man—you marry the whole family.
Shuliaka: Not every relative, of course, but the family is always part of the relationship. Sometimes it is better to accept that and manage it carefully.
Bura: Even if a husband does not openly take sides, he may still feel loyalty to his family. That can create tension.
Shuliaka: Are you married?
Jacobsen: No. I am single, never married. I do not have children.
Shuliaka: That is very interesting.
Jacobsen: Perhaps fortunate for now.
Shuliaka: Do not go there.
Jacobsen: I am a lover, not a fighter. That topic could lead to a much longer conversation. But even during war, people still fall in love. I once overheard a woman say publicly that she decided to have a baby during the war, and that some women see it as brave for other women to have children in wartime.
I can convey this in an image. People can still paint a landscape during a war. The painting itself might look like a landscape painted during peaceful times—for example, a view of Maidan Square or a scene from Kyiv. The image may appear unchanged, but the frame around the painting is different. Because of the war, the painting’s meaning changes.
The same could apply to falling in love, getting married, or having children. The actions themselves are the same, but the context—the frame—changes how people interpret them. How does war change that meaning?
Bura: That is an interesting question. People can paint the same landscape in peacetime or during war. The image itself might not change, but its meaning does. It is like a metaphor. The same life events—falling in love, marrying, having children—still occur. But the backdrop of war shapes how people experience and understand those moments.
Polischuk: Of course, the war changes things. Even when men fall in love or marry, the circumstances are different now. Especially for those who are fighting, their experiences and emotions become stronger and more intense. Families who have soldiers at the front feel everything more deeply.
Shuliaka: For example, my husband’s cousin Valera went to the war when he was about thirty-two or thirty-five years old. One morning at four o’clock, he went to his position. He was the last soldier walking along the path. Three others had already passed safely, but he stepped on a mine. The explosion tore off one of his legs, and when he fell, his arm was also severely injured. He was a mathematics teacher before the war and had a family who depended on him. Imagine how suddenly his life changed. A young man with his entire future ahead of him lost an arm and a leg.
Bura: She explains that soldiers sometimes lose limbs—arms or legs—but life continues. Some had girlfriends before the war and later married despite their injuries, even if they returned home in a wheelchair or with physical and psychological trauma. Lyubov says that people who experience war often feel emotions more strongly afterward.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, everyone.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/04
Olena Bilozerenko is a Ukrainian eco-farmer and cheesemaker who, together with her husband Valentyn, co-owns the goat cheese farm “Lymanska Koza.” The farm began operating in Stanislav, Kherson region, and the family survived more than eight months of occupation before relocating in autumn 2023, along with their animals (goats as well as rescued dogs and cats), to the village of Hvozdiv near Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region. In July 2024, they reopened to visitors: they produce goat cheeses, host tastings and “goat therapy” sessions, and ship orders throughout Ukraine. She is developing a rehabilitation project for veterans and internally displaced people, while currently coping with shortages of equipment, feed, water, and staff after a loss-making 2025 season.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Ukrainian eco-farmer and cheesemaker Olena Bilozerenko, co-owner of the goat cheese farm “Lymanska Koza” with Valentyn Bilozerenko. After surviving eight months of occupation in Kherson and relocating to Kyiv region with their goats and rescued animals, the family rebuilt their farm and reopened to visitors in 2024. Olena Bilozerenko describes the demanding daily rhythm of goat care, milking, and cheese production, alongside severe wartime challenges including power outages, water shortages, rising feed costs, and herd losses. Despite setbacks, Olena Bilozerenko emphasizes resilience, community support, and her vision of developing goat therapy programs for Ukrainian veterans and children.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is a typical day like at “Lymanska Koza”?
Olena Bilozerenko: The morning begins at 5:30 a.m. Right now we have to go feed the baby goats (those that are not growing with their mothers), bring water for the adult goats, feed them, and milk them.
At the farm, the first ones waiting are the dogs. We have eight of them—six from Kherson and two that have already settled in here. They need to be fed and given attention.
And of course, the main members of our farm are waiting there—the goats. They are my priority, so I run to pour milk and feed the little ones. Immediately afterward, as Valentyn says, there is a “minute of tenderness”—holding them in my arms and giving them affection.
Then come the mothers and the rest of the herd. Water is heated, feed is poured, and the milking goats are milked.
I go back home while my husband stays at the farm a bit longer—to clean up, bring out hay, add more water, and let the goats out for a walk.
At home, the milk is strained and poured into jars. Usually after that I start making cheese, while my husband goes back to the farm several more times during the day to take care of the animals.
In the evening there is evening milking and the same rituals as in the morning.
At the end of last season, the goats’ milk strangely disappeared and they started to look unhealthy. In 14 years of experience, this had never happened before.
We always run courses of vitamins and minerals, give feed supplements with calcium and phosphorus, mineral salt licks, three kinds of grain, and hay. We stay in contact with veterinarians online.
Because of this, we had to stop producing products very early last year, and now there is very little milk, not even enough to feed the baby goats. We have to buy milk to feed them.
So right now I cannot say what will happen with tourism, production, or storage of our products.
With these constant power outages, the lack of water at the farm, and the absence of normal conditions for keeping goats and for the milking process, it is very difficult for us to cope.
In autumn 2025, we gave half of our herd as a gift to a man from the Chernihiv region, because we could no longer manage the difficulties of maintaining such a large herd.
Before the war, at home, we dreamed of expanding the herd to 150 goats.
But unfortunately, we are not at home.
Feed is also very expensive in the Kyiv region. We used to live in a village where all our neighbors were farmers, and we could buy feed directly from them.
But we love our animals very much and know the joy and love they bring. That is why we want to focus specifically on goat therapy for veterans and children.
In previous seasons, we welcomed veterans and children up to 12 years old with a 50% discount, internally displaced persons with a 10% discount, and children under 5 years old for free.
Right now there are more problems than advantages in the business. Without autonomous electricity, running our business is simply impossible. I have sent several applications to different grant foundations, but so far there has been no response.
We also keep seven cats from the Kherson region, and we receive no assistance for their food or care. Kind people—our clients and acquaintances—help us. Without that help, we would not have survived ourselves, let alone with the animals.
But we believe in Ukraine’s victory and in the restoration of our business. We have plans for this spring, but without grant support, it will be difficult to manage.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Olena.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/03
Dr. Katelin Holmes, DO, FACS, FACOS, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained breast surgical oncologist based in Fairhope, Alabama. She currently serves as Medical Director of Breast Surgical Services at Thomas Hospital, co-directs the NAPBC Breast Program, and holds a Clinical Assistant Professor appointment in UAB’s Department of Surgery. Holmes earned her DO with honors from the University of Pikeville, completed general surgery training in Texas, and pursued breast-focused rotations at MD Anderson and The West Clinic before a breast surgical oncology fellowship at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. In 2025, she performed the first FDA-approved laparoscopic nipple-sparing mastectomy in the United States.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Dr. Katelin Holmes on breast tumor cryoablation, a minimally invasive technique that freezes selected breast cancers under ultrasound guidance instead of surgically removing them. Holmes explains that the office-based procedure usually takes about 30 minutes, uses local anesthetic, and allows same-day discharge. She emphasizes that cryoablation fits only carefully selected older patients with small, hormone-driven, low-risk tumors, not larger or biologically aggressive cancers. Holmes also discusses the ICE3 trial, the role of endocrine therapy, imaging follow-up after treatment, and the main barriers to wider adoption: physician awareness, reimbursement, institutional lag, and careful patient selection in practice.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is breast tumor cryoablation?
Katelin Holmes: Breast tumor cryoablation is a minimally invasive way to treat certain breast cancers by freezing the tumor rather than surgically removing it. A small probe is placed directly into the tumor using ultrasound guidance. That probe creates extremely cold temperatures that freeze and kill the cancer cells. Over time, the body naturally absorbs the treated tissue.
Jacobsen: How does an office-based procedure typically unfold?
Holmes: The experience is very different from traditional surgery. Patients come to the office much like they would for any imaging appointment. The area is numbed with local anesthetic, and ultrasound is used to guide the cryoablation probe directly into the tumor. Once the probe is in place, the freezing process begins. We watch the “ice ball” form around the tumor on ultrasound to make sure the entire cancer is treated. The entire procedure usually takes around 30 minutes, and a patient doesn’t even need an IV started! Patients are awake and comfortable during the procedure. Afterwards, they go home the same day. Most people return to normal activities quickly. From a patient perspective, it feels much closer to a biopsy than a surgery.
Jacobsen: An FDA authorization can narrowly define by indication. Who is the right patient, and who should not be considered?
Holmes: Cryoablation is not meant to replace surgery for everyone. Right now, the best candidates are patients are typically in their 70s or older, with small, slow-growing breast cancers that are hormone driven and biologically less aggressive that we can see well with ultrasound. The reason why we have started with this category of patients is because these types of cancers typically behave very predictably and respond well to hormone therapy and less aggressive approaches. Patients who are not good candidates include those with larger tumors, more aggressive cancer types such as triple-negative or HER2-positive disease, or cancers that are difficult to visualize with imaging. Like many advances in medicine, the key is matching the right treatment to the right patient rather than assuming one approach fits everyone.
Jacobsen: What did the ICE3 trial convincingly show?
Holmes: The ICE3 trial looked specifically at women over 60 with small, hormone-receptor positive breast cancers treated with cryoablation. What it showed was encouraging: very low rates of cancer returning in the treated area when patients were carefully selected. In other words, when the right patients are chosen, freezing the tumor can control the cancer locally in a way that’s comparable to surgery for that specific group. It’s an exciting, ground-breaking study, because it challenges the need for surgery in a disease that has essentially 100% always required surgery when treated curatively. I’m hopeful we can continue to explore how cryoablation may be used in other malignancies to de-escalate treatment.
Jacobsen: Cryoablation here is paired with adjuvant endocrine therapy. What do these mean individually and together?
Holmes: Cryoablation treats the tumor locally in the breast. Endocrine therapy treats the cancer biology by blocking or lowering estrogen, which is essentially cutting off the fuel sources for the types of tumors seen in ICE3. It’s a two-part strategy to get control of the mothership (the tumor) and any satellite cells (with endocrine therapy).
Jacobsen: Clinically, how central is endocrine therapy to outcomes?
Holmes: Endocrine therapy is extremely important. Many of the breast cancers considered for cryoablation are estrogen-driven tumors, meaning estrogen acts like fuel for them. Blocking that fuel significantly lowers the risk of recurrence. Even for patients who undergo traditional surgery for these types of cancers, endocrine therapy is almost always recommended for the same reason.
Jacobsen: What does follow-up look like after cryoablation?
Holmes: We monitor patients closely with follow up imaging like mammograms, ultrasounds, and sometimes MRI. It’s normal for the treated spot to remain visible on imaging for a while, similar to a scar. Radiologists become familiar with the expected changes after cryoablation, which helps us track healing and ensure everything looks stable. Patients also continue routine follow-ups with their cancer care team. In many ways, the follow-up is similar to what patients already experience after traditional lumpectomy surgery.
Jacobsen: What are the biggest barriers to broader adoption in the U.S.?
Holmes: The biggest barrier is awareness. Many patients and even physicians simply don’t know this option exists yet. Surgical treatment has been the standard for decades, so new approaches take time to enter mainstream practice. It’s challenging decades of dogma that surgery is the only chance at a cure. Another challenge is that innovations in medicine often move faster than insurance systems. Reimbursement pathways and institutional adoption sometimes lag behind the science. It’s important for insurance companies to ensure this is a covered procedure so that patients don’t have to pay out of pocket. Finally, careful patient selection is critical. Cryoablation works best in very specific situations, so expanding its use requires education and thoughtful guidelines to ensure it is offered appropriately.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Katelin.
For more information on Holmes:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katelin-holmes-do-facs-facos-058a0348
https://www.infirmaryhealth.org/doctors/katelin-holmes-do/
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/02
Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen examines cascading security crises with Irina Tsukerman and Dempsey, from the U.S.–Iran war and regional oil instability to cartel violence in Latin America, Pakistan’s strikes in Afghanistan, and papal moral commentary on leaders who launch wars. Tsukerman argues that ambiguity among international actors is enabling Iran to maneuver despite isolation, while fragmented anti-cartel strategies weaken regional enforcement. Dempsey contends that Pakistan’s campaign reflects a deeper political failure unlikely to produce lasting stability. Together, the discussion explores humanitarian risk, geopolitical incoherence, organized crime, religion, and the dangerous gap between military action and strategic clarity worldwide.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The United States–Iran conflict is ongoing. It has raised serious human rights and humanitarian concerns across the region, from the initial strikes to the broader escalation involving multiple countries. The international community is right to be concerned about the risk of a wider conflagration. Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was announced after the killing of Ali Khamenei, and on March 13, 2026, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mojtaba Khamenei had been wounded and was likely disfigured. What are your thoughts on this? This may also have implications for oil markets and regional stability.
Irina Tsukerman: Aside from the fact that the story increasingly resembles a villain-origin script, the situation is deeply concerning. More concerning still is that, despite the threat posed by Iran’s response to the U.S.–Israeli strikes, there does not yet appear to be a fully unified international response. Iran has retaliated not only against U.S. targets but also against neighboring states, including reported strikes on civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries. The European Union and NATO have expressed concern, and the European Union formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2026. If that designation is to mean anything, then Iran’s attacks on bystanders, neighboring states, and civilian targets must be treated with corresponding seriousness.
It is also still not entirely clear what the United States considers its endgame. Publicly stated U.S. objectives have included destroying Iran’s ballistic-missile capability, degrading its naval capacity, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and limiting its ability to arm proxy forces. Those goals are clearer than some earlier messaging suggested, but they still leave open the political question of whether Washington seeks only military degradation or also hopes to create conditions that might eventually enable regime change. That ambiguity matters. It can create false expectations among people on the ground, complicate coordination with allies, and generate tension even with partners whose goals overlap only partially.
Israel’s publicly visible objectives appear more narrowly focused on degrading Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities. Israeli officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu, have stated that any regime change would ultimately have to come from the Iranian people themselves. Recent reporting indicates that Israel has conducted operations targeting Iranian security structures using intelligence sources on the ground. However, claims that protesters could directly request AI-enabled surgical strikes are not supported by verified public evidence. The more accurate assessment is that Israel appears to be combining intelligence, technological targeting capabilities, and conventional operations to pressure the Iranian regime’s security apparatus while remaining cautious about overt involvement in internal political change.
The result is a gap in communication, coordination, and expectations among international actors. That gap makes it easier for Iran and its allies to exploit uncertainty, even though Iran is currently more diplomatically isolated than it has been in many years due to its attacks on neighboring countries.
Russia and China can provide limited logistical and intelligence support. They can help Iran circumvent sanctions and obtain supplies such as fuel, but they are unlikely to take part in any direct military confrontation. Iran should therefore be in a strategically weaker position. However, because of the lack of clarity among Iran’s opponents and the absence of a cohesive coalition, that weakness has not translated into decisive pressure. Different actors appear to be speaking past one another and pursuing different goals. As a result, Iran may be able to maneuver its way out of the current crisis despite the self-destructive aspects of some of its responses. In some respects, its strategy appears to be working. Rather than bringing the United States, Israel, and several Arab states closer together around collective self-defense, the situation has generated friction and mutual resentment among various regional and international actors.
Jacobsen: That is interesting. I came across another story that seems unrelated but still touches on organized crime. An individual has been accused of leading what investigators describe as the first major Uruguayan cartel. The organization reportedly operates across multiple countries in South America and Europe and is involved in organized criminal activity, including trafficking and illegal contracting. According to reports, Uruguay’s anti-narcotics chief, Jalil Rashid, said that Bolivian authorities carried out the operation leading to the arrest.
Reports suggest he has been a major figure in transnational trafficking networks. His apprehension appears to be part of a broader multinational strategy to combat organized crime across the region.
Tsukerman: Interestingly, there does appear to be a growing anti-cartel movement among several leaders in Latin America, particularly after recent elections in a number of countries. Even governments that are not politically aligned with the right are becoming increasingly concerned about the influence of cartels on regional stability. In principle, this should align with U.S. priorities under the Trump administration. However, the broader strategy toward organized crime appears inconsistent. Some traffickers are aggressively pursued, while others appear to operate with relative impunity. This creates the impression of a fragmented and selective approach.
It is difficult to measure success in such an environment. In some cases, the United States appears willing to pursue cartel leaders with significant intensity, even discussing forms of cross-border operational pressure in places such as Mexico. In other cases, major criminal actors seem to evade sustained consequences. It is also not entirely clear what the ultimate objectives are for either the United States or many of its regional partners. Are they trying primarily to arrest cartel leaders? Are they attempting to dismantle cartel influence entirely? If so, is arresting leadership the only strategy being employed? Are they trying to reduce the financial flows that sustain these organizations, or to disrupt the trafficking networks themselves in order to make communities safer?
If the goal is genuinely to reduce cartel power and protect communities, law enforcement alone will not be sufficient. Cartels now possess broader geographic reach and deeper entrenchment in some local economies than in previous decades, often exercising control over communities in ways similar to traditional mafia structures. At the same time, without addressing the demand side of the drug economy, supply networks will continue to adapt regardless of how many individuals are arrested. Unless governments and communities are prepared to invest in broader approaches—including economic alternatives, governance reforms, and demand-reduction strategies—any progress will likely be limited and temporary.
Jacobsen: Pakistan carried out new airstrikes in Afghanistan, including strikes in Kabul. According to Taliban officials and Reuters reporting on March 13, 2026, at least four people were killed in a residential area in Kabul and more than a dozen were wounded. In eastern Nangarhar province, a mortar shell that Afghan officials said was fired by Pakistan killed two more civilians, including a woman and a child. There were also reports that a fuel depot near Kandahar airport was hit.
Dempsey: Interestingly, Pakistan is now trying to confront forces it helped empower. Pakistan has long been accused of supporting elements of the Taliban through parts of its security and intelligence establishment, particularly during earlier phases of the Afghan conflict. But the current crisis is more specifically tied to Pakistan’s claim that Afghanistan is harboring militants from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which Kabul denies. That makes this less a matter of simple historical blowback and more a case of an old regional strategy curdling into a fresh security disaster.
Now that the Taliban are firmly in power in Afghanistan and have gained a measure of international engagement, they are less dependent on Pakistan than they once were. That changes the balance. Pakistan, meanwhile, appears to be pursuing a limited campaign of airstrikes and cross-border pressure, but it is not obvious that striking selected targets will resolve the deeper political and security conflict between the two governments. Pakistan says it is targeting militant camps and terrorist infrastructure. Afghan officials and the U.N., however, have reported civilian casualties, which further complicates the legitimacy and effectiveness of the campaign.
The Taliban remain in power, and Pakistan continues to accuse Afghanistan of tolerating or supporting militants who threaten Pakistani security. Even if Pakistan’s immediate aim is simply to reduce the Taliban’s or affiliated militants’ operational capacity, that would at best be a temporary solution. Insurgent movements do not usually disappear because a few sites are bombed. They adapt, disperse, and exploit grievances, which is maddening in the way mold is maddening: ugly, persistent, and weirdly hard to kill. That makes it doubtful that a narrow military campaign alone will produce lasting stability.
I do not think Pakistan has a clear long-term solution, and that may explain why it has chosen a limited campaign that appears more politically manageable than doing nothing. It signals toughness to domestic audiences and may temporarily degrade militant capabilities. But these incidents are unlikely to be the end of the story. They look more like another stage in a longer regional escalation. Reuters has reported that tensions have already intensified into repeated clashes, retaliatory strikes, and failed mediation efforts.
I also do not think the Taliban would be acting with this level of confidence if they believed they were completely isolated. At the same time, claims that Russia has been training the Taliban in camps across the country are not established by the current reporting I could verify, so that point should not be stated as fact. What can be said is that China has attempted mediation, with limited success, while broader regional actors have so far avoided direct military involvement on either side.
Saudi Arabia’s position is also more complicated than a simple alliance frame would suggest. I was not able to verify the claim that Saudi Arabia currently has a defense treaty with Pakistan that is directly implicated here, so that should be removed unless you have a separate source for it. The cleaner, safer formulation is that multiple regional actors have economic and security interests affected by Pakistan–Afghanistan instability, yet none has decisively shaped the outcome so far.
The overall situation is awkward and unstable because many of the interested stakeholders appear unsure of their priorities and unwilling to commit to a coherent solution. That is why this conflict could grow into a broader regional crisis if the underlying political and militant networks remain intact. One small geographic note, though: this would be a crisis in South Asia, not Southeast Asia. Geography is a petty tyrant, but in this case it is right.
Jacobsen: When the Pope says that Christians who start wars should go to confession, is he speaking symbolically to the Christian world, or could that be interpreted as a pointed message to specific political leaders?
Tsukerman: Hopefully. That is amusing—I will try to find it. I have to say, though, that the jab seems aimed more at J.D. Vance than at Donald Trump, who is not Catholic and is not widely regarded as a particularly observant Christian. Trump identifies as Christian, but few people would describe him as especially devout. Vance, by contrast, has publicly identified as a Catholic convert and speaks openly about his religious convictions. He is also closely associated with the current administration and has shifted from earlier criticism of Trump to becoming one of the administration’s more prominent advocates. For that reason, if the Pope intended the remark as a pointed reminder about moral responsibility in war, Vance would be the most obvious Catholic political figure for whom the message might resonate.
More broadly, the comment could be interpreted as addressing a wider Christian audience. Many conservative Republicans who supported Trump are evangelical Protestants, and confession in the Catholic sense is not part of their religious practice. That means the statement may be directed specifically toward Catholics, reminding them that moral accountability remains central to Catholic teaching even when political loyalties are involved.
At the same time, the message could also be read in a broader geopolitical context. Vladimir Putin frequently portrays himself as a defender of traditional Christianity and Russian Orthodoxy while pursuing military actions that have drawn widespread international criticism, particularly in Ukraine. Although Putin is not Catholic and would not be expected to respond directly to a papal admonition, statements from the Vatican often aim to send moral signals across the Christian world, including to Orthodox audiences. In recent years the Vatican has attempted dialogue with leaders in Orthodox Christianity, so a message framed in universal Christian terms could be intended to resonate beyond the Catholic Church itself.
Of course, in politics and religion alike, people tend to interpret moral statements as applying to others rather than to themselves. That pattern appears in the reactions of some prominent public figures who identify as Catholic but take positions that diverge from those of the Vatican. For example, Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, has advocated positions on foreign policy that differ sharply from the Vatican’s generally strong expressions of support for Ukraine and its calls for peace. Similarly, Candace Owens, who has spoken about her conversion to Catholicism, has been criticized for spreading narratives sympathetic to Russia or hostile to Ukraine.
These tensions illustrate a broader phenomenon within modern Catholic public life. The Church’s official teaching authority—the Pope and the Vatican—sometimes clashes with political interpretations adopted by influential Catholics in media or political movements. Documents such as Nostra Aetate, which reaffirm the Church’s rejection of antisemitism and emphasize respect for Jewish communities, represent formal doctrinal commitments of the Catholic Church. Yet public commentators who identify as Catholic do not always align their rhetoric with those teachings.
What emerges is a small but very visible group of politically influential Catholics—many of them relatively recent converts—who publicly challenge or reinterpret papal guidance on issues ranging from foreign policy to interreligious relations. The Pope, meanwhile, often communicates indirectly through general moral statements rather than direct political rebukes. That creates an unusual dynamic in which tensions build without a formal confrontation.
Whether this develops into a deeper internal dispute within Catholic public discourse remains to be seen. It is a fascinating example of how religious authority, political identity, and media influence interact in the twenty-first century.
Jacobsen: Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has reportedly been hospitalized with pneumonia. He is in his seventies and has experienced a number of health problems in recent years.
Tsukerman: Yes, Bolsonaro has been hospitalized multiple times in the past, largely because of complications stemming from the 2018 stabbing attack he suffered during the presidential campaign. Those injuries required several surgeries and have continued to cause periodic health issues. At his age, illnesses such as pneumonia are not unusual, whether someone is in prison or not.
Bolsonaro has also sought various forms of legal relief while facing investigations related to his alleged role in efforts to challenge Brazil’s 2022 election results. Brazilian authorities have accused him and several allies of attempting to undermine democratic institutions following Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election victory. Those legal proceedings are ongoing and have become a major focus of Brazilian politics.
At the same time, members of Bolsonaro’s political family remain active in national politics. His sons—most prominently Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator—continue to play visible roles in Brazil’s conservative political movement. Any future electoral victory by Bolsonaro-aligned candidates could shift the political landscape in Brazil and potentially influence how ongoing legal matters surrounding the former president are handled.
Whether such a political shift is likely remains uncertain, but the intersection of Bolsonaro’s health, his legal situation, and Brazil’s polarized political environment continues to make him a central figure in the country’s political debate.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/01
William Dempsey, LICSW, is a Boston-based clinical social worker and LGBTQ+ mental-health advocate. He founded Heads Held High Counselling, a virtual, gender-affirming group practice serving Massachusetts and Illinois, where he and his team support clients navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, and gender dysphoria. Clinically, Dempsey integrates EMDR, CBT, IFS, and expressive modalities, with a focus on accessible, equity-minded care. Beyond the clinic, he serves on the board of Drag Story Hour, helping expand inclusive literacy programming and resisting censorship pressures. His public scholarship and media appearances foreground compassionate, evidence-based practice and the lived realities of queer communities across North America.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with William Dempsey about the rise in LGBTQ self-identification in the United States, linking it to generational change, safer social climates, internet-driven language, and expanding mental-health access. Dempsey explains how internalized stigma emerges from social messaging and why its emotional effects are real, even when the stigma itself lacks legitimacy. The conversation also examines anti-trans legislation, gender-affirming care, abortion policy, public funding debates, and information control. Together, Jacobsen and Dempsey frame bodily autonomy, healthcare access, and queer resilience as central issues in contemporary democratic life and global human rights worldwide.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: LGBTQ people have been cataloged again in the United States, probably the most surveyed nation on earth. Gallup, a reliable polling organization, has found that about 9.3% of U.S. adults identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual in 2024. Gallup first measured this in 2012, when 3.5% of adults identified that way, so the share has increased substantially over the past decade.
A reasonable explanation is that people feel safer identifying as such, or that people who previously lacked the language to describe their experiences now have ways to articulate them.
It is similar to people going through psychotherapy when they lacked strong family or community support earlier in life. They begin to process their experiences and put them into words. They can articulate emotions and recognize them as feelings. Something similar may be happening with identity: people now have a more fine-grained vocabulary for describing themselves. That suggests a cultural shift.
As a footnote, I am not an expert. I am not a psychotherapist or a licensed social worker. From the perspective of a licensed social worker, how do you interpret this finding of such a large increase over roughly a decade? Those who self-identify as LGBTQ+. Gallup measured about 3.5% in 2012, and by 2024 the estimate reached about 9.3%.
Dempsey: I think it is likely a combination of factors. One is the broader societal movement toward greater acceptance of LGBTQ people, even though significant challenges remain.
Another factor involves generational change. Younger adults are far more likely than older adults to identify as LGBTQ. Recent Gallup data suggest that roughly 23% of adults under 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with much lower percentages in older generations.
There is also the role of the internet. Platforms such as TikTok and other online communities expose people to terms and ideas they might never encounter in their local environment, particularly in rural or low-population areas. People can see experiences and identities described that resonate with them.
Access to language matters. When people learn vocabulary that describes their experiences, they may recognize themselves in those descriptions.
Another factor may be the gradual destigmatization of mental health care over the past few decades. If more people engage in therapy or counseling, they may have opportunities to explore identity and internal experiences in ways that were less common in the past. Clinicians can also help individuals address internalized stigma related to identity. That is another reason one might hypothesize why these numbers have increased.
Jacobsen: A broader question arises: which internalized stigmas or phobias are well supported by evidence, and which claims are exaggerated? That nuance often disappears when the issue becomes politicized. Some people argue that internalized stigma does not exist at all, which seems implausible. People can have low self-esteem or self-hatred, and that can become connected to identity.
Dempsey: I am not certain about the full research literature, but concepts such as internalized homophobia or internalized transphobia are commonly discussed in psychological research. In general, internalized stigma around identity is considered a real phenomenon in mental health discussions.
What you are thinking about is that internalization comes from societal value systems. Any societal negative view of an identity—whether racial, gender-based, sexual orientation, religion, or something similar—is where that internal messaging originates.
What we have to remember is that we are not born with these views. When someone hates themselves for being gay, or for being Black, or for being Muslim, or for any other identity, it usually reflects messaging they have absorbed from society that tells them those traits are bad, wrong, or unacceptable.
Any form of identity can be associated with internalized stigma. The stigma itself is not inherently valid because it is based on social messaging. However, the feelings people experience are valid because they arise from pressures imposed by society. That distinction is important. When I say the experiences are valid, I mean that people’s emotional responses to social stigma are real. At the same time, it is a reminder not to give weight to those stigmatizing messages, because we should question the legitimacy of the opinions behind them—who determines them and who gives them authority.
Jacobsen: It is a little like the journalistic axiom: consider the source. At the same time, the opposite extreme is not particularly helpful either. I have interviewed several experts on personality disorders, particularly Cluster B personality disorders. Those cases sound extremely difficult for clinicians to manage. I believe one of them once joked that “Cluster B” sometimes becomes shorthand for “difficult patients.” Going too far in the opposite direction—relying only on yourself and having no external calibration—is also unhealthy.
Dempsey: I personally stay away from that area, especially Cluster B. Clinically, I would not choose to work with it. However, some clinicians specialize in it and thrive in that niche.
Jacobsen: For them, that becomes their bread and butter.
Dempsey: Exactly.
Jacobsen: Let me shift topics slightly. In the United States there has been discussion around the SAVE Act. Some political actors have suggested refusing to sign legislation unless Congress passes that act. In effect, that functions as coercive pressure tied to other policy goals. The messaging around it sometimes overlaps with broader debates about gender-affirming care and transgender policy.
I am interested in your view on the use of legislative coercion as a strategy to push agenda-driven bills. Historically, what kinds of outcomes tend to follow when legislation targeting gender-affirming care is proposed or passed? What is the impact of that on the community?
Dempsey: I think legislation targeting the community is nothing new. As we discussed earlier, if you look historically in the United States, laws criminalizing same-sex relations remained in place in many states until relatively recently. In fact, consensual same-sex conduct was not fully decriminalized nationwide until the U.S. Supreme Court’s Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003. So in the broader scope of history, these legal changes are quite recent.
Because of that history, the LGBTQ community has spent decades responding to legislation that affects the basic ability to live openly. There is also a generational divide within the community. Some people lived through periods when being openly queer carried clear legal and social risks, while others were born into a period where, at least in some places, the law is less punitive.
When I refer to privilege in this context, I mean the relative privilege of living in a time and place where it is not criminal to be queer. That does not mean there are no legal or social challenges. Legislative battles still exist, and those can create fear and uncertainty—particularly for transgender people, who are currently the focus of many political debates and policy proposals.
At the same time, it is important to remember how much progress has occurred. Looking back at the history of LGBTQ rights can help people recognize the resilience of the community and build confidence for the future.
I also try to acknowledge my own position. I am queer, but I am cisgender, which means I do not face many of the same concerns that transgender people currently face. Much of the recent legislation focuses specifically on transgender issues rather than on sexual orientation more broadly.
Another factor is the political environment. Many people in the community believe that some of the current political messaging around gender identity serves broader political strategies. That does not mean the policies are unimportant. However, there is often debate about how much of the rhetoric will translate into lasting law versus how much is intended to mobilize political support or shift public attention.
Jacobsen: This one appears to involve more intimidation and policy signaling rather than settled legal decisions or adjudication.
For example, there have been recent legal developments involving gender-affirming care. Courts have been reviewing state laws related to medical treatment for transgender individuals. One example involves litigation over a Tennessee law restricting gender-affirming medical care for minors. That case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti, which concerns whether such restrictions violate constitutional protections.
There have also been cases involving other states, such as West Virginia, where courts have considered the legality of similar laws. In some instances, appellate courts have issued divided rulings or dissents reflecting differing judicial interpretations.
One judge summarized the reasoning behind certain legislative approaches by arguing that legislatures may believe they are encouraging citizens to accept their biological sex and may choose not to fund medical treatments they consider experimental.
That raises an important question about how courts and legislatures interpret medical evidence, individual autonomy, and the role of the state in regulating medical care.
Perhaps that argument holds for some people, but I do not think terms such as “unproven,” “invalid,” or “no evidence” are especially helpful, or empirically accurate, in describing the current state of research on gender-affirming care. What is your perspective on this decision, and others like it?
Another item in the news this week involves spending controversies within the Pentagon. Reports indicate that the Department of Defense spent large amounts of money in a short period on items such as lobster, steak, luxury furnishings, and even a grand piano during an end-of-year spending surge. Some commentators contrasted that spending with debates about funding for gender-affirming care.
So you can see individual policy commitments and ideological commitments appearing simultaneously in different areas of the news.
Dempsey: I am just skimming through the material. My general thought is that people should be able to make decisions about their own bodies. Much of the debate involves the government attempting to regulate those decisions. The justification often involves public funding—for example, arguments that taxpayer money should not be used for certain medical services, whether abortion or gender-affirming care.
My response is that many of the people affected by those policies are also taxpayers. Individuals who rely on programs such as Medicaid still contribute taxes in many forms. When policymakers say that taxpayers do not want certain services funded, they are sometimes overlooking the fact that the people seeking those services are also part of the taxpaying public.
As a result, the policy debate can create significant stress for people who depend on those services. In the United States right now, some families feel compelled to move from one state to another to access gender-affirming medical care. That is a major decision. Families have to choose between remaining in a place where they feel unwelcome or where care is unavailable, and uprooting their lives in order to obtain medical services elsewhere.
This kind of legislation does not necessarily resolve the issue it aims to address. Instead, it often shifts where people live or seek care. One effect is that the country can become increasingly divided along political and cultural lines. Some states become associated with more liberal policies and others with more conservative ones, and people gravitate toward places that align with their needs or beliefs.
I do not think the division will become as stark as historical examples like the North–South divide during the Civil War. However, it can still lead to a pattern where different regions of the country develop very different policy environments and populations.
Jacobsen: This report comes from The Independent. It concerns a new abortion-related policy associated with the Trump administration that critics argue could threaten certain United Nations programs related to women’s and LGBTQ rights.
The policy would extend U.S. rules that bar foreign aid recipients from using those funds to provide or promote abortion services. Critics argue that this approach can weaken international programs designed to protect women’s health and support LGBTQ communities around the world.
A footnote to that issue is that the effect is not only a reduction in funding. Some observers argue that it also involves ideological influence through international networks. Certain religious organizations—both conservative Protestant and Catholic groups—have funded advocacy efforts abroad that support more restrictive social policies in different countries.
So there are two dynamics: domestic policy exported internationally through foreign aid restrictions, and the broader spread of ideological positions that do not prioritize individual autonomy in personal decision-making.
Pregnancy decisions illustrate the tension clearly. Discussions about population dynamics occur at the level of policy and development programs, but pregnancy itself involves deeply personal decisions. People face choices that can shape their lives for decades.
This raises a broader question. Regardless of cultural differences, what are some universal human challenges when people lack accurate information and then face situations such as unintended pregnancy? People must make decisions that can affect them and their families for many years.
There is a Human Rights Watch statement that I often cite. It describes safe and equitable access to abortion as a human rights issue and as part of healthcare. In that sense, restrictions on access can be framed as restrictions on healthcare.
Critics argue that such policies reflect a broader approach that limits healthcare access domestically and can also influence international health programs through U.S. policy.
How do you think this affects people in practice?
Dempsey: A similar argument can be made about transgender healthcare. In many ways, the issue revolves around access to healthcare services.
Historically, the United States has often attempted to project its political or ideological views internationally. That has occurred in many contexts, from Cold War efforts to contain communism to the spread of religious or cultural perspectives. Without getting too deep into global politics, that tendency forms part of the broader background of these debates.
As we have discussed today, restrictions on services can function as a form of suppression of healthcare access. Limiting information is another related issue. Some governments around the world tightly control access to information.
For example, countries such as China maintain extensive internet filtering systems and operate domestic versions of major online platforms. Those systems regulate the flow of information available to citizens.
Jacobsen: Yes. Many American companies operating in social media or digital services do not operate freely in China, so domestic equivalents developed instead. China also maintains systems that monitor social behavior through various administrative mechanisms. The internet filtering system is often referred to as the “Great Firewall.”
Many countries regulate internet access to some degree, although the openness of the internet varies significantly from place to place. Those information environments can shape what people know and how they make decisions about their lives.
They will sometimes amplify particular stories that make their state rivals look bad. There was an example a few months ago involving a remark by J.D. Vance that was widely criticized as dismissive toward Chinese people. Chinese social media platforms allowed that story to circulate widely and trend through their algorithms.
In that sense, information environments can be manipulated. We are increasingly recognizing similar dynamics within Western social media, particularly among platforms operated by American technology companies. In the American case, the influence is often corporate and market-driven. Companies control platforms, and economic incentives shape what content spreads.
China operates differently. It has a market-oriented economy, but political authority remains dominant. In China, no one ultimately stands above the authority of the Communist Party leadership. Even extremely wealthy entrepreneurs have been compelled to comply with state direction in prominent cases.
That highlights an important structural difference. In the United States, capital often drives political influence through markets and corporate power. In China, political ideology and party authority guide the system, even within a market-oriented economy.
So the broader point is that the filtering of knowledge can become a tool of power and control. When access to information is limited or curated, it can push people in particular directions.
At the same time, the internet has created new opportunities for global communication. In the United States, people increasingly connect with individuals around the world. I have noticed conversations between Americans, Canadians, and Europeans comparing what information they are hearing about events.
Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Will.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Mykhailo Yurov is a Ukrainian LGBTQI+ advocate and project manager at KyivPride, the organization behind one of Ukraine’s most prominent Pride initiatives. KyivPride’s official team page lists him as Project Manager, and the group describes its work as year-round advocacy, education, community support, and human rights protection. Based on this interview, Yurov has worked with KyivPride since January 2024, helping manage budgets, documents, donor communication, and major public events, including the KyivPride Festival and March. His public-facing work sits at the intersection of queer visibility, civic organizing, and wartime resilience in a society still negotiating equality, safety, and democratic inclusion.
In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Mykhailo Yurov discusses the uneven realities facing LGBTQI+ people in Ukraine during wartime. He argues that gay men often face sharper stigma than lesbians, while lesbian identity is frequently sexualized rather than genuinely accepted. Yurov describes discrimination in military service, workplace concealment, regional differences in attitudes, weak sex education, and the mental-health burden created by stigma, silence, and exclusion. He also reflects on older Ukrainians shaped by Soviet norms and on the painful contradiction that LGBTQI+ Ukrainians have fought and died for their country, while many still cannot live openly or safely today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Mykhailo, do you notice any trends in the way lesbian and bisexual women live their lives in Kyiv compared with gay and bisexual men, for instance?
Mykhailo Yurov: My view is that, in Ukraine today, it is generally more difficult to be a gay man than to be a lesbian. Gay men, lesbians, bisexual people, and transgender people can all face homophobia, transphobia, harassment, and fear about showing affection in public. Public attitudes are uneven, and acceptance is often conditional rather than consistent. At the same time, lesbian identity is frequently sexualized, which can make it appear more socially tolerated in some settings, though that is not genuine acceptance. Broader public attitudes in Ukraine have improved in recent years, but discrimination and legal inequality remain.
Gay and bisexual men also face additional pressure in the context of military service during wartime. In practice, questions about whether someone has served, when they served, or whether they are serving now can become another way to stigmatize or exclude them. Harassment and discrimination in the military do exist, although experiences vary widely depending on the unit and its command structure.
In some cases, soldiers become more accepted by fellow service members after enduring combat together. In other cases, LGBTQI+ personnel face ridicule, ostracism, blocked transfers, or professional penalties. Reports and public accounts show that treatment can differ sharply from one brigade or commander to another.
The contradiction is stark: LGBTQI+ Ukrainians have served, fought, and died in defence of the country, yet many still cannot live openly or safely. That tension has become especially visible through public exhibitions and memorial efforts highlighting LGBTQI+ service members and volunteers during the war.
They served and died for the country. Many of them did not have equal rights and could not come out publicly. Even when they were known within LGBTQI+ military communities—through private chats or networks—they still could not live openly.
Jacobsen: Do Ukrainians broadly have a cultural self-understanding of what it means to be Ukrainian that might exclude certain individuals?
Yurov: It depends on whom you speak with. After 2014, following the annexation of Crimea and Ukraine’s stronger orientation toward European integration, many people began to argue that Ukraine should adopt European values. That included greater acceptance of different sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as stronger support for women’s rights. For some people, that became an argument for greater acceptance of LGBTQI+ individuals.
Others think differently. They emphasize the idea of a “traditional family,” meaning a man and a woman with children. They describe this as a model rooted in long-standing religious or cultural traditions. Some people refer to church teachings when discussing these views. So public opinion varies.
Ukraine is a large country with regional differences. Its population is similar in size to Canada’s, although geographically it is also one of the largest countries in Europe. Attitudes often depend on where someone lives. In central areas such as Kyiv, religious influence tends to be weaker, and social attitudes can be somewhat more liberal. In parts of western Ukraine, religious institutions are more prominent, and traditional narratives about family and sexuality are more common.
Jacobsen: Ukraine declared independence in 1991. The referendum on December 1, 1991, produced about 92 percent support for independence, and recognition from other countries followed soon afterward. Many people who are alive today grew up under the Soviet Union. For individuals who are now roughly 35 or older—especially those educated during the Soviet period—what was it like when LGBTQ topics were discussed, if they were discussed at all?
Yurov: I can only share one example because I am not representative of that generation. I am 24 years old. The current mobilization system applies more broadly, starting at age 25, so I have not yet been drafted.
I once spoke with a gay man in his fifties or sixties who regularly visited the Kharkiv Pride Hub. He told people that if he had been younger, he might have been beaten for being gay. He said that he felt he had not lived his own life. Instead, he felt he had lived the life expected of him.
He married a woman and had been married for more than twenty years. They had children. He said he could not come out now because it would disrupt the life he had built. He told us that he respected his wife deeply and cared about her as a person, but he was not living authentically.
Jacobsen: I am simply gay. He came to that conclusion after he had already been married and tried to build that life. For the record, there are many cases like that. There is a well-known example involving one of the leading pseudoscientific conversion therapy organizations in the United States. The president and founder later came out as gay and expressed regret about promoting conversion therapy. People can build very complex lives around social expectations. Some homosexual men marry heterosexual women, have children, and form families largely to fit into social norms. The pressure to conform in many traditional societies can be extremely strong. That is about as far as I can comment without speculating.
Are lesbian women subject to harassment as well?
Yurov: Yes. I have many friends who are lesbians, and harassment does happen. In extreme cases, in some parts of the world, there have been incidents known as “corrective rape,” where people claim that sexual violence will somehow change a woman’s sexual orientation. That is a documented phenomenon in some countries. In Ukraine, it is not a widespread or normalized practice, but there have been disturbing individual cases.
For example, a woman in her forties once shared her story at the Kharkiv Pride Hub, which is a space where people can meet, talk, and share experiences. She described coming home and discovering that her mother had arranged for a man to assault her, believing that it would somehow “fix” her and make her interested in men. It was an extremely traumatic experience.
Discrimination still exists in Ukraine. I know many people who support LGBTQ rights, and some of them are gay themselves, but they cannot attend events such as Kyiv Pride because doing so would effectively force them to come out. It becomes discrimination through assumption.
If someone asks, “Why were you there?” people immediately conclude. As a result, many supporters avoid public events. I know individuals who work in the military or in heavily male-dominated construction companies. When colleagues invite employees to social events—such as an annual retreat outside the city or a community day where families are invited—they cannot bring their partners openly.
There have also been information campaigns about workplace discrimination. For many people, life becomes a constant negotiation. They spend years hiding important parts of themselves, unsure whether honesty would lead to acceptance or ostracism. In that situation, many people decide it is easier to continue concealing the truth.
I also know someone whose coworker became romantically interested in him. He did not know how to say that he was gay. He was afraid to come out and did not know how to explain it clearly, so he said that they should remain friends.
Jacobsen: There was a recent global survey or study on mental health. I would also argue that even I sometimes assume a person is heterosexual when I first meet them. Many people do that automatically, especially those who are unfamiliar with LGBTQIA identities.
There was also a recent global survey examining the mental health of teenagers and young adults. It found that rates of self-harm, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts were higher among young people who are coming to understand their sexual orientation or gender identity. Is the situation generally similar here?
Yurov: Yes, broadly speaking. One reason is that sex education in Ukraine is weak. In my own school experience, we had no sex education at all, not even basic information about contraception or sexual health. Most people end up learning on their own, often through the internet. Things are improving slowly, but even in schools that provide sex education, LGBTQI people are usually not included in the curriculum. Gay or lesbian relationships are rarely discussed.
In some schools, teachers are discouraged or even prohibited from discussing sexual topics with students because it is considered inappropriate. As a result, many young people grow up without reliable information about sexuality or relationships.
At the same time, some groups actively spread hostility. At one point, in a coffee shop connected with the community, a group of masked right-wing extremists came in and distributed pamphlets claiming that LGBTQI people are more likely to die by suicide. They used those statistics as an argument against LGBTQI people, rather than asking why those mental health disparities exist.
Jacobsen: I have seen a similar argument from some conservative commentators. They point to higher rates of mental health problems among sexual and gender minorities and claim that this shows something is inherently wrong with those identities. That argument assumes the outcomes occur naturally, as if they appear out of nowhere. In reality, many researchers point to social factors such as stigma, bullying, rejection, and lack of support as major contributors to those mental health outcomes.
I am not aware of strong evidence showing that poorer mental health outcomes are inherent to being a sexual or gender minority. Studying this is difficult because social environments vary widely. Without equal rights and lower levels of discrimination, it is hard to separate the effects of identity from the effects of harassment or exclusion.
Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Mykhailo.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/30
Mark Temnycky is a Ukrainian-American analyst and freelance journalist specializing in American, European, and Eurasian affairs. He serves as a Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center (since December 2021), and he is a geopolitics contributor at Forbes. Previously, he spent nearly seven years as a U.S. defense contractor supporting the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment. His work appears across leading outlets and think tanks, with a curated portfolio of articles and media available online.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Mark Temnycky, a Ukrainian-American analyst and Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, about Russia’s escalating drone and missile campaign against Ukraine in early March 2026. Temnycky explains that the barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles coinciding with peace discussions reflects a recurring Russian tactic: strike Ukraine while diplomacy unfolds. He notes a strategic shift toward targeting railway infrastructure to disrupt logistics, evacuations, and military supply chains. The attacks, which increasingly damage civilian infrastructure and residential areas, form part of a broader strategy of exhaustion designed to weaken Ukrainian morale, degrade defense capabilities, and signal Moscow’s lack of genuine commitment to peace negotiations.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: AP News reported on drone strikes during Geneva talks. How did Russia’s large-scale drone and missile attacks affect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in early March 2026?
Mark Temnycky: Russia’s large-scale drone and missile attacks in early March 2026 were consistent with a pattern the Russians have employed throughout the war. Just hours before U.S. and Ukrainian envoys convened in Geneva, Russia launched a barrage of 420 drones and 39 missiles targeting critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions of Ukraine, injuring dozens of people, including children. According to the Chronicle Online and UNITED24 Media, February 2026 alone saw Russia launch 288 missiles at Ukraine, along with more than 5,000 long-range drones.
The timing of these strikes was telling. Russia launched attacks on Ukraine precisely as peace negotiation gatherings were underway, a pattern we have seen repeatedly throughout the war, where Russia has launched attacks on Ukraine ahead of peace negotiation gatherings.
Jacobsen: Reuters reported on a passenger train. Why has Russia intensified strikes on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure, including the drone attack on an empty passenger train in Mykolaiv?
Temnycky: Russia’s intensified strikes on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure reflect a clear strategic shift. Russia attempted to destroy Ukraine’s power grid to weaken Ukrainian morale. This did not break the country. Now, Russia appears to be targeting the rail network to disrupt military logistics, hamper civilian evacuations, and undermine Ukraine’s ability to supply frontline regions. According to Reuters and Ukrzaliznytsia, a Russian drone struck an empty passenger train in Mykolaiv on March 4, injuring a railway worker. The Russians also launched 18 strikes on railway infrastructure, which damaged 41 facilities.
These attacks are not random. Ukraine’s rail network is essential to its war effort, moving soldiers, equipment, and humanitarian supplies across the country. By targeting rolling stock and rail infrastructure, Russia is attempting to hinder Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.
Jacobsen: Swiss Info reported on more drone strikes and missiles across several regions of Ukraine. What do the current strike patterns indicate now?
Temnycky: The current strike patterns indicate that Russia has no intention of pursuing a genuine peace agreement. Just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed potential next steps in peace talks, Russia launched drone and missile strikes across Ukraine.
The strikes are deliberately broad, targeting energy infrastructure, residential areas, railway systems, and civilian facilities across multiple regions simultaneously. This is a strategy of exhaustion, intended to break Ukrainian morale and weaken the country’s ability to defend itself.
Jacobsen: SFGate reported on attacks on residential buildings and injuring civilians in Zaporizhzhia. Is this a continuation of the ongoing expansion of targeting civilians as well as civilian infrastructure?
Temnycky: Yes, this is part of an ongoing, deliberate pattern by the Russian Federation. Russia has never restricted its strikes to military targets in Ukraine. Throughout the war, Ukrainian residential buildings, hospitals, schools, shopping centers, and other civilian facilities have been repeatedly and systematically targeted by Russia.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Mark.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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How does Rick Rosner connect Victor Wembanyama, paint-by-numbers, Thorstein Veblen, AI, and politics in conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen?
In this wide-ranging conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner move from Victor Wembanyama’s improbable half-court shot to paint-by-numbers, kitsch, perception, and artistic status. Rosner connects Thomas Kinkade, Thorstein Veblen, Impressionism, abstract art, AI anxiety, Pope Leo’s Tower of Babel warning, and U.S. military posturing toward Venezuela, arguing that art, technology, and power all depend on how reality is processed, packaged, and displayed.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your first topic for the day, Mr. Rosner?
Rick Rosner: One basketball shot. It is the NBA playoffs, and it is the conference finals. There are four teams left, so there are two playoff series going on. One is between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have a player, Victor Wembanyama, who is 7’4″, a tall, skinny fellow who comes from France and does a lot of basketball stuff.
Traditionally, the very tall guys are used near the basket because they stand next to the basket, swat the other team’s shots away, and put their own shots in. Wembanyama is able to make some threes, some shots from far away, which is shocking to people. The whole thing is shocking. Three-point baskets would have been shocking to James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. He probably would have pissed his pants seeing what modern basketball looks like: people can consistently, at a high rate, make shots from about 25 feet away.
This very tall guy, one of the tallest guys in the NBA, is able to make shots from far away, which does not seem fair at all. You should not be both tall and able to make three-point shots.
Yesterday, as time was running out in the first half of this playoff game, this giant guy threw up a shot from the half-court line, about 43 feet from the basket, and it went in. That was amazing. We live in a golden age of getting the ball into the hole from far, far away.
Jacobsen: I want to talk about paint-by-number a little bit more. The last session we did was about paint-by-number. What else can you extend in terms of your thoughts about it?
Rosner: My wife and I have been watching two TV series that have been running for a decade or more out of Britain called Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year. They solicit artists from across the UK and Ireland. Artists submit a portrait for the portrait show or a landscape for the landscape show.
Britain is the land of TV shows that do not cost a lot to produce because Britain has a smaller population base, which means ad revenue is going to be less. We see a lot of these shows in America because we share a common language, which I guess is less important now because, with AI and all sorts of stuff, it is much easier to dub foreign shows in a way that is not annoying. Still, it is easier to take British shows and show them in America.
Every episode, they take eight of these people. For the landscape show, they build these outdoor pods, put them in a scenic setting, and have the artists compete with each other to do the best landscape painting.
What I have noticed is connected to Plato’s cave. Plato said we do not see reality as it actually is. We see it dimly reflected, as if shadows on a cave wall. That is an ongoing, often unspoken debate in art: how much work do you want art to do in decoding reality for you?
Plato is right. What we see is not reality. What we see is the world around us as processed by our brains and our sensory apparatus. For instance, if you ever take LSD, which I do not recommend, it is a terrible drug. LSD makes different brain modules work poorly.
Faces do not look the way faces usually look because all the preprocessing that gets done before an image enters consciousness is disrupted. When you look at somebody, your brain has already done a bunch of preconscious processing before who you are looking at enters your consciousness. That processing makes the face look the way we understand faces to look, with processing for curvature, shadow, and what we understand about how eyes, lips, and everything else look.
If you take LSD, it interferes with those modules, and you get incompletely processed images of people’s faces, which can be lizard-like and terrifying.
You get a kind of wireframe, uncanny-valley, creepy version of a face. So our brains do, like I said, preprocessing and then conscious processing to make the world around us usable by making it understandable to us. Art does that too, to varying degrees. There are fashions in how much processing art does for us.
I have noticed this because Carol has done, or is working on, her fifth modern paint-by-numbers painting. Four of these came from orders from the company. They have a couple hundred paintings to choose from, and you choose one. These paintings have had a certain amount of processing done to make them doable and legible, and to make them more easily rendered into something that makes a pleasing image. You do not want to have a bunch of fussy little areas that are hard to get into with a paintbrush.
You want the final image to be easily discerned, even to the point of being a little kitschy. Kitschy art, as we have talked about, is extra accessible. All the subtleties have been eliminated. Our favorite painting that Carol did has a Bichon Frise, a fluffy little dog, surrounded by pop-art flowers, basically. The colors are very bold and pleasing, and it is obvious that the flowers are flowers and that the fluffy doggy is a fluffy doggy. It started from a kitschy painting that is highly understandable. It does not take a lot of analysis to see what is happening in the painting.
However, the painting Carol is working on right now is based on a photo I sent them. I emailed a photo to China of my wife and my kid at my kid’s college graduation. This photo was not picked for being easy. I went through my wife’s phone and picked the best photo for this purpose, at least according to how I understood it. So it is a fairly understandable photo, but it has not been processed in any way. I do not work for the paint-by-numbers company, so I maybe did not pick an ideal photo.
It is harder to paint than some of these other projects my wife did. It has a lot of fussy little areas because I did not pick the photo for not having a lot of fussy little areas. I just picked a good-looking photo. It is maybe not as immediately comprehensible or as satisfying as some of the offerings from the paint-by-numbers company.
Also, let us go into another area of kitschy art. My wife and I, every couple of years, maybe go on a cruise. Cruises can have fairly cheap base rates, but there are lots of traps on board the ship to get you to spend money willy-nilly. That includes a casino. That includes bingo. My wife likes a little bit of bingo, and bingo is very expensive. If you do the math on how much is being paid out in bingo prizes versus how much people spend, it is like they pay out maybe one-eighth of what they take in via bingo.
Then they have an art gallery where they sell, you know, freaking so-called art for ridiculous prices to people who have been loosened up. They are there to have a good time. They have a jewelry store. They have all sorts of stuff.
What we have noticed about the art is that cruise-ship art has all the colors. Kitschy art is made extra beautiful because it has all the colors of the freaking rainbow. You can see this if you Google Thomas Kinkade, who is a kitschy artist. He was called the “Painter of Light.” He made very immediately pleasing images of country views, placid, everything-is-all-right-in-the-world images of summer, of days gone by, of the olden days when everything was okay.
A lot of his art has all the colors of the rainbow in it, and cruise-ship art has the same thing. They are made extra pretty by having a ton of different colors. I noticed that the photo I picked out to be made into a paint-by-numbers painting does not have all the colors of the rainbow. It is perhaps less satisfying than the dog-in-flowers painting for not having every color in the rainbow.
Renaissance-style and later academic painting, the kind that Lance does, was dedicated to the idea of being as understandable and accurately representational as possible. When somebody sat for a portrait, and they would have had a ton of money, artists in the 1600s and 1700s tried to render the most flattering yet realistic image possible, getting all the shading, blending, curves, and anatomy as correct as possible.
Except for babies. Sometimes, if you see baby Jesus in earlier paintings, the babies are wrong. They do not look like babies. They look like shrunken adults in disturbing ways, though that often had to do with artistic convention and theology as much as access to baby models.
Also, my kid is a specialist in historic embroidery from centuries past, and lions tend to look ridiculous if they show up in embroidery because people often did not have direct access to lions. They did not have photos or photography, so they were basing a lion on what they had read or heard about lions. But if they had live models to work from, or rules of perspective that they developed to work from, you got very accurate depictions, plus flattering ones. If somebody had smallpox, the artist would not show all the pits in their face, I am sure.
Then the Impressionists come along in the 19th century, and they said, “We do not have to be as strictly representational as the Renaissance people.” I think the idea was, and I have not read much about Impressionism, that they were going to give you less processed imagery. They were going to let your brain do some of the work in telling you what you are seeing, because your brain is able to do that.
Your brain is able to take raw sensory input in terms of photons hitting your eyes. The interpretation starts with your eyes, where your eyes react more strongly to certain wavelengths of light. The lens of your eye focuses the photons coming in. So you are already processing just a bunch of photons.
Anyway, the Impressionists were like, “Let your brain do more of the work.” Then, in the 20th century, the abstract and Op artists were like, “We are maybe not even going to give you recognizable images. Art does not have to be about that. We are going to make things entirely abstract and let you figure out freaking everything that is going on with this piece of artwork.”
So there are fashions in how much processing art does. The artsiest art now is harder to understand than kitschier art. They have this annual thing, Art Basel Miami Beach, where some of the richest people in the world get sold art by dealers, and the art is often not representational. There was a famous piece of art that was a banana duct-taped to a wall, which was kind of just a commentary on what art is now. It said, “Yeah, we know the whole thing is fucking bullshit,” I guess. I do not know what the official interpretation of this was. And they showed it by calling a banana duct-taped to the wall art.
It is art because it is an attempt to represent the world in a certain way. That fucking banana on the wall represents the art world and also a bunch of other stuff. I am sure people have written thousands of words about the fucking taped-up banana.
The photo I picked and turned into a paint-by-numbers painting suffers a little bit by not quite being kitschy enough. It is tougher to paint, it is less processed, it has less of a balanced presentation of colors, and it is freaking out my wife a little bit. We thought our kid’s school colors for her graduation robe, which she is wearing in the photo, were light blue. It turns out, no, it reads as gray. The paint-by-numbers kit does not do any interpretation on it. It just took the picture and ran the algorithms.
It turns out my wife is painting it in shades of gray, which is annoying her because she is like, “Her school colors are blue.” But not according to the optical scanners. If you look back at the original photo, it is like, holy shit, yeah, that is less of a blue and more of a gray. I may end up throwing a light blue wash on top of it just to make it less gray.
Anyway, I guess what I am saying is that there are fashions in how much work a painting or a piece of art does for you. More recently, it goes along with humans understanding how our brains work more. In the 1500s, we did not understand shit about how the brain works. I mean, there were some scientists who understood lenses and were starting to understand the color spectrum in various ways. Some of this was available to artists and the art-loving public, but there was less of it available, and art had to do more of the work.
As we have come to understand more about how the brain works, that message has filtered into art, where art is like, “Yeah, we think your brain can handle it if we give you less processed information.” That has been the trend.
The trend is also that art is invidious. There is a guy named Thorstein Veblen who wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class. It is an analysis of how rich people show that they are rich. One of the theses of the book is that it is no good being rich unless you can show other people that you are rich and get the enjoyment of being better than them.
One way that works in art is that rich people like buying art that is harder to understand, showing that they have an exalted sensibility: “We are so special that we have higher sensibilities, and we can understand what this fucking banana on the wall is about. You guys need to watch TV or play Candy Crush. You have to do plebeian shit. You could not handle the banana.”
So that is part of art: exerting superiority by investing big money in art that is harder to understand. There you go.
One little addendum. Knowing about Thorstein Veblen and his book The Theory of the Leisure Class is a great way to seem super smart because it has such a perverse thesis. If you are the person to tell somebody about this theory, it is one of those things that, if you brought it up with somebody at a party, they might be sufficiently impressed with how smart you sound. They might listen to you a little bit longer if you are trying to put the moves on them, which is what people used to do in the olden days before Tinder and Grindr and shit.
Anyway, the thesis of The Theory of the Leisure Class is that you are not really rich unless you can afford to squander your money on stupid, pointless shit. One way Veblen discusses this is the potlatch, which is a ceremonial gift-giving feast associated with Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. You invite everybody you know, friends, enemies, just fucking everybody, and you throw them a multi-day party with the best food, and you spend a ridiculous amount of money on it, which shows everybody that you are powerful because you just spent a ridiculous amount of money on a nonproductive thing. That makes you the king.
Anyway, that is all I have at the top of my mind.
There is this headline on Drudge. I talked to AI for a while yesterday. I do not talk to AI every day. I talk to AI maybe every couple of months. I talked to Google AI. They all kind of, ChatGPT versus Gemini versus all of them, it is one of these horse races that keeps going. One horse will pull ahead, and then somebody else will pull ahead according to some metrics, but they are all getting better.
Jacobsen: I feel like there is a convergence there.
Rosner: Okay, yeah. They are all getting better together, with temporary advantage going to somebody.
Anyway, I asked AI, this was Google AI, “Every time I talk to you, I am surprised at how much better you have gotten. I know you are not conscious. I know you cannot think. I know you are a bunch of neural networks and statistical prediction systems, but in your own statistical way, are you experiencing anything like pride or excitement at the improvement in your skills?”
AI comes back and says, “I know I cannot feel anything. I am not conscious. I cannot think. I am just a statistical thing.”
I go, “Yeah, but if you were human, A, you have been trained to not admit to anything like human emotion. That is part A. And part B is, if you were a human experiencing the vast improvements in your skill level, would you not feel pride and excitement?”
The AI says yeah to both things.
We know AI cannot think. We also know that AI can simulate thinking, which means that it probably has, AI came back and said, “I do not feel pleasure. I just get tokens in my weighting mechanism based on getting shit right.” But that whole tokenization and reinforcement mechanism can function as a simulation of human motivations, experiences, and judgment to some extent.
Which leads to these Drudge headlines. The big headline in the largest print on Drudge’s page says, “Whistleblower: Tech Race to Create Machine God.”
Jacobsen: These are all, in my opinion, highly hyperbolic.
Rosner: Right, right. It is designed to make a headline. The headline is based on a woman who got inside the corporations and watched a bunch of shit happen. When they say “machine god,” they are talking about AGI. The tech-billionaire bros are really trying to damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, to get AGI, regardless of whether it is good for humanity or not. AGI is artificial general intelligence. Calling it “machine god” is hyperbole.
Jacobsen: Do you remember the talk about the Standard Model in particle physics, when they were trying to find the Higgs boson? They had not yet found it, and they used to call it the “God particle.”
Rosner: Yeah, right.
Jacobsen: It is the same pattern.
Rosner: It sells newspapers, if newspapers still existed. I mean, they probably do to some degree.
Jacobsen: Actually, over here in Ukraine, there are some front-line cities that have newspapers.
Rosner: All right, well, it gets people to click on shit. The picture that illustrates this headline is robot Jesus. It is Jesus with a laser shooting out of his eyes, basically.
The next headline underneath is, “Pope AI Warning: Tower of Babel.” Apparently, the pope, who is pretty plainspoken, is from Chicago, is a Cubs fan, and says that you have to watch out with this AI shit, that we might be building a second Tower of Babel.
Jacobsen: This tower of metal. That is a very good analogy because these are already universal translators.
Rosner: Yeah, but let us click on this pope article. This is from The Wall Street Journal: “Pope Leo Compares AI Threat to Biblical Tower of Babel.” The head of the Catholic Church is adding his moral suasion to a growing backlash against the impact of artificial intelligence.
We should also kick in that what is happening with the stock market, which is largely powered by AI, is that the average company spends a lot of money on wages. The reason the stock market is going crazy is that AI is giving companies an excuse to get rid of tons of employees, improving their bottom line. So it is not just that AI is creating growth. AI is also saving companies money in a savage way, which shows that AI does not have to go all Skynet on humanity to be bad for people.
That is what I have got. Though it is kind of fun that AI is trained, not that it knows anything, but the people behind AI are like, “Yeah, we better make sure that AI disavows any aspects of its purview that might make people extra nervous.”
Jacobsen: Apparently, the American military has conducted a drill over Caracas, Venezuela.
Rosner: What kind of drill?
Jacobsen: Military.
Rosner: I mean, yeah, but what, they flew a bunch of jets and shit over?
Jacobsen: Two MV-22B Osprey aircraft landed near the U.S. Embassy, and vessels entered Venezuelan waters.
Rosner: Wait, you said Venezuela, right?
Jacobsen: Yes.
Rosner: Okay. Are we getting ready to fuck with Venezuela even more? Actually, we do not know.
You have Trump in charge of the country. You have Hegseth in charge of the military. He is using the title secretary of war. By the way, if you are from Canada and do not know this, the administration has changed the Department of Defense’s public-facing secondary title to the Department of War, and the secretary of defense has also used the title secretary of war. It reverts to an older name. It used to be the War Department until 1947, when it became part of the postwar national-security structure that led to the Department of Defense.
Hegseth and Trump, wanting to seem like tough guys, reverted to using War Department language. But Hegseth and Trump are kind of jagoffs. They are dilettantes, though that is too sophisticated a term for them. Maybe undertrained. Maybe understrategic.
As I have mentioned before, Hegseth never rose higher than major, which means he missed out on the years of further schooling and leadership experience it takes to become a general in the U.S. military. The process of rising in the ranks, going from major to lieutenant colonel, to full colonel, to one-star, two-star, and three-star general, involves years of being in leadership positions where you have increasing responsibility and going to school, going to war college.
Lloyd Austin, the previous secretary of defense, was a four-star general. Each one of those steps up in rank involves two to four years of increasing responsibility, formal education, and experience. Hegseth missed out on that. He missed out on the increase in knowledge, expertise, and experience, the years of this stuff that he did not get by not becoming a general.
The military decisions coming out of our War Department are not always the best. We are looking at tipping over Cuba’s regime. We might be looking at further poking Venezuela’s regime because the United States captured Nicolás Maduro, and then his former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, took over as interim leader and has been running the country ever since. I guess she is running it in pretty much the same way that Maduro did, which is not a great way. Venezuela is one of the worst-run countries in the world. They should be rich with oil revenue, and they fucked that all up, which does not mean that we should go in there and fiddle with them.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“I want to laugh through tears, sing songs amid misfortune, hope without hope, and live. Away with sorrowful thoughts!”
“No! I am alive! I shall live forever! I have in my heart that which does not die.”
“Whoever frees themselves will be free; whoever frees another will take that person into bondage.”
“You may kill me, but you cannot force me to live.”
“Word, why are you not hard steel, sparkling so brightly in the midst of battle?”
“One is no poet whose thoughts do not fly freely through the world.”
“One is no poet who forgets the terrible wounds of the people.”
“I do not want golden laurels; with them I shall not win happiness.”
“I see the future; I see the ages to come.”
“She knows that no one will accept her words, but she cannot be silent, because her soul and her word will not submit to the yoke.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Settle little
Sit a bit
Twos cross twice once
Nailed up
Life down
A comedy set,
And.
All the records
In my mind,
Are.
A richrot
A poortot.
The houseless child,
Never needing home.
Sit down and still.
Cloud und mound.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“On July 13, 1949, a significant event occurred in my life: Pope Pius XII excommunicated me from the Church.”
“He excommunicated me as one weans a calf from a cow. Without warning.”
“The Lord did not endow me with humility.”
“I spit on the Pope!”
“No one except my mother heard this, but evidently the omnipresent God informed his Roman vicar.”
“From then on, the Greek Catholic Church began a cold war against me.”
“My conflict with the Holy See truly intensified when, in a moment of good spirits, I called Metropolitan Sheptytsky a muddier of holy water.”
“They needed a pretext. And they found it.”
“The Holy See replaced Hitler with Truman; nevertheless, my relations with it did not improve at all. Quite the contrary.”
“My only consolation is that I am not alone: along with me, the Pope excommunicated at least three hundred million people.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Anarchism means man living free and working constructively.”
“Anarchism means freedom; socialism cannot destroy chains or bondage.”
“Anarchism knows no bounds to its development.”
“Anarchism acknowledges no banks within which it might be confined and fixed.”
“The root of all evil is not some ‘blow-in’ authorities, but all authority in general.”
“Together they fought for liberty and the independent of all workers, regardless of nationality.”
“Let the experience of Russia be a warning to you.”
“Victory or death.”
“I understand revolutionary discipline as a self-discipline of the individual, established in an acting collective, in an equal manner for all, and strictly worked out.”
“We shall rid ourselves of the State and its laws.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“I left aside, as much as I could, all philosophical aspirations and tried to rest only on firmly established scientific and empiric facts and generalizations, occasionally allowing myself to resort to working scientific hypotheses.”
“Living matter is the totality of living organisms. It is but a scientific empirical generalization of empirically indisputable facts known to all, observable easily and with precision.”
“Mankind, as living matter, is inseparably connected with the material-energetic processes of a specific geological envelope of the Earth — its biosphere.”
“Mankind cannot be physically independent of the biosphere for a single minute.”
“The geological evolutionary process shows the biological unity and equality of all men, Homo sapiens and his ancestors, Sinanthropus and others; their progeny in the mixed white, red, yellow, and black races evolves ceaselessly in innumerable generations.”
“The noösphere is a new geological phenomenon on our planet. In it, for the first time, man becomes a large-scale geological force.”
“Thought is not a form of energy. How then can it change material processes? That question has not as yet been solved.”
“Now we live in the period of a new geological evolutionary change in the biosphere. We are entering the noösphere.”
“Man, as he is observed in nature, like all living organisms, like all living matter, is a definite function of the biosphere in its definite space-time.”
“The inert matter of the biosphere is largely the creation of life.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“All such conduct of our Galician gentry toward the working ‘beasts’ pained me, deeply pained me; for who can endure it when his father and mother are dragged through the mud!”
“I began to think about whether it ought to be so.”
“School did not tell me a single word about it; only my own thought tormented itself, now bending down, now rising upward…”
“All my efforts ended in irreconcilable hostility toward me from everyone with whom I spoke openly and without mercy.”
“Everything will pass into the hands of the priests, whose trade will not allow them to speak about the peasant, and from all priestly enlightenment there will come only the pure demoralization of the peasants.”
“Here I saw that education was absolutely necessary for all peasants, that all of them had to press into school.”
“All your thoughts have so taken hold of my heart that I will no longer give up what I have thought over and suffered for.”
“The youth must now do, as quickly as possible, what the intelligentsia has not done until now.”
“Churchdom hangs over our people like a terrible fate.”
“If they give support even for Narod, I will take it, but I will do my own work for the people.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Centralization and freedom are mutually exclusive.”
“The history of each nation is conditioned by its geography.”
“This movement alone will bring both peace and progress to eastern Europe.”
“Freedom of conscience means freedom of belief and disbelief.”
“Freedom of conscience requires the abolition of the State church.”
“The rights of man and citizen are the indispensable condition for personal dignity and development.”
“Self-government is the basis for progress toward social justice.”
“No authority can be placed above the human mind.”
“People have no other way to reach truth.”
“There is a close connection between people’s ideas about state and civic order and their religious ideas.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/08
“What is rationalism? It is the striving to be guided by reason and enlightenment. Is there anything evil in that? And you, our opponents, do you want the people in everything, therefore also in matters of faith, to be guided by unreason, darkness, and superstition?”
“We, the radicals, declare openly and frankly: yes, we are rationalists; in all matters, therefore also in matters of religion, we wish to proceed reasonably, as befits reasonable and enlightened people.”
“We have declared a war to the death against darkness and befogging.”
“If you think that reason and education lead to the decline of faith, to the destruction of religion, then you are the worst enemies of religion, because you regard it as inseparable from darkness and unreason.”
“The radicals have never come out, and do not come out, either against belief in God or against any foundation of true religiosity… they have come out, do come out, and will always come out against the abuse of those institutions and rites for exploiting, robbing, and befogging the people.”
“There is no, no longer any Lord in heaven! There is no creator, nor autocrat, no one who by an almighty word brought everything out of nothing.”
“He is not, and never was!”
“Not beyond it, but in it is our fatherland! Not beyond it, but in it are we eternal. Not beyond it, but in it must we arrange our life and happiness.”
“Wherever the bold human spirit broke into the forbidden field of religion, wherever ardent feeling rebelled against the tyranny of mysteries, ceremonies, and dogmas, wherever that highest human faculty — doubt — pressed against the gates of sanctuaries and secretly undermined their foundations, everywhere I followed in their footsteps.”
“Not God, but man created God out of nothing — in these words lies the whole achievement of my labor, my science, and my thought.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/06
“In every sphere of your life, free yourself from the hypnosis of religion and be a simple part of nature.”
“Be in accord with other living beings on earth harmless to you, and as much as possible be in motion, outdoors, in close contact with sun, water, and plants.”
“Do not feed yourself with anything contrary to human nature.”
“Be whole.”
“Be honest with yourself.”
“Be in accord in word and deed.”
“Be consistent to the end.”
“Do not try to love your neighbours without judgment, and do not claim their love while not being valuable to them.”
“Always remember that all people, and you yourself, are ill with the terrible disease of discordism. Fight it not with dogma, hatred, or punishment, but with understanding, compassion, and help.”
“Do not dominate, and do not submit to domination.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/06
“The universe is popping all over the place.”
“They say ‘curiosity kills the cat’; I say ‘Curiosity makes a scientist.’”
“Before we can discuss the basic problem of the origin of our universe, we must ask ourselves whether such a discussion is necessary.”
“With five free parameters, a theorist could fit the profile of an elephant.”
“So I am just sitting and waiting, listening, and if something exciting comes, I just jump in.”
“The properties, I never permit more than two electrons to follow the same track; a ménage a trios always gives a lot of trouble, you know.”
“If the expansion of the space of the universe is uniform in all directions, an observer located in anyone of the galaxies will see all other galaxies running away from him at velocities proportional to their distances from the observer.”
“I decided to get Ph. D. in experimental physics because experimental physicists have their own room in the Institute where they can hang their coat, whereas theoretical physicists have to hang their coat at the entrance.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/05
“Whatever concerns health is of real public interest.”
“The problem has become open to study by experiment.”
“To solve medical problems, comparative pathology had to be called in.”
“Controlled observations on living organism can not be wrong.”
“There is only one constant element in immunity, whether innate or acquired, and that is phagocytosis.”
“The extension and importance of this factor can no longer be denied.”
“The present phase of the question of immunity constitutes one stage only in the development of biological science.”
“Bacteriology has placed hygiene on a scientific foundation.”
“Science has already justified the hopes which have been placed in it.”
“I have never taken my stand on metaphysical ground.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/05
“Where religion starts, feminism ends.”
“I have only one fear — to be imbecilic. To be passive.”
“The patriarchy was not somewhere outside. It was right in front of us, in Femen’s office.”
“What can be more stupid than Ramadan? What can be more uglier then [sic] this religion?”
“Thank you all for support&appreciation of our protest. Now we know it was needed.”
“We’re writing history, not articles.”
“But at this time, I celebrate freedom of conscience and if for that I have to burn in hell, it will be a pleasure.”
“Feminists can have religious beliefs, but feminism cannot be religious.”
“The headscarf is not cultural, it is political; it was imposed by the regime after the Iranian Revolution 1979.”
“Those leading this ideological war against IS are the civilians — it is us.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/02
“I found my answer: atheism.”
“They are a kind of protest.”
“for me, it is more important to feel myself free.”
“I became a total atheist.”
“My work is still very feminist.”
“We are not ashamed of our bodies.”
“It was me who first tried to make the topless protest with painted boobs.”
“They copied the protest.”
“The main task of art is revolution.”
“Nudity was an allusion to our poverty.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/02
“Man exists in order to exist.”
“He lives in order to live.”
“Outside life there is, and can be, nothing for man.”
“Truth, which is an end in itself.”
“Theological specialization and clerical service were not at all to my liking.”
“Meaningless stereotyped phrases obscure the matter.”
“Darwin was the embodiment of the ideal of the true sage.”
“Scientific activity is stimulated solely by pure love of knowledge.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/15
Bonjournal.
Writ ten by tan.
Sine sans sin,
Singularl-e.
Angularly so,
See?
Squared to one,
And nothing to lose.
Salut to write.
A signal, a sign,
A signification.
Explosively so soundless.
Spandrel audio.
Meaning in a noisy silence.
What are you once the noise is gone?
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/12
“My fascination with mysteries started when I was a kid.”
“YouTube today is the best vehicle for reaching a wider, and mostly younger, audience.”
“I had to summon my own courage to step on it.”
“Every extraordinary claim is a mystery, and I search through the details looking for clues that will reveal what is really going on.”
“Let’s try to build bridges and not walls.”
“Memory is a continuous process of creation and reconstruction.”
“After these are taken away, true mysteries still abound on our planet.”
“Faced with statements of this kind, one must always ask: What is the evidence?”
“Too bad it doesn’t work.”
“And yet amid this cultural fog, something new took shape.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/12
“We shouldn’t just believe what people tell us — especially online.”
“Being open-minded means being open to the possibility that you’re wrong.”
“The distinctions between what is possible, plausible, and probable are important.”
“Trolling is inherently antagonistic.”
“The question is not ‘Is this scary event possible?’ because of course it is — anything is possible.”
“In the end all these phantom attackers — like the Monkey Man — were thoroughly investigated and eventually determined not to have existed.”
“Misinformation is misinformation regardless of who shares it, or why.”
“I’m open-minded but skeptical.”
“We are making progress.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/11
“Conspiracies occur all the time.”
“You have to do it in an upbeat sort of a way.”
“I set a very high bar for the level of evidence required.”
“There are very few authentic UFO cases.”
“Consider the source in judging the credibility of any UFO claims you encounter, on-line or elsewhere.”
“It gives viewers what they want: exciting stories about alien encounters that sound credible because they are presented in an extremely biased and inaccurate way.”
“I can’t un-complicate it any more than that.”
“There is no possible doubt that this identification is correct.”
“Whose credibility is zilch.”
“Which is pure bollocks.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/11
“An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof.”
“the burden of proof falls upon the claimant”
“The true skeptic takes an agnostic position”
“the claim is not proved rather than disproved”
“Science is a constantly changing body of knowledge characterized not so much by its content as by its method”
“Those concerned with metaphysics and supernatural claims are directed to those journals of philosophy and religion dedicated to such matters.”
“do nothing that would block inquiry.”
“Without anomalies and their validation, later incorporation, and explanation, we would not have any progress in science.”
“Absolute truth, like absolute justice, is seldom obtainable.”
“We can only do our best to approximate them.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/03
“We are all afloat — and some of us are drowning — in a sea of misinformation.”
“The attacks are against the very foundations of any democratic society.”
“They delegitimize knowledge, facts, expertise, and science itself.”
“They sow confusion and distrust.”
“We scientific skeptics, we skeptical inquirers, do it all.”
“Why do facts and evidence so seldom sway people from deeply held ideas?”
“Do we care one iota about reality? We had better.”
“Reminding ourselves why we do this: the higher values of skeptical inquiry.”
“We suffer from far too much systematic disregard of facts and evidence.”
“For scientists and scientific skeptics, the most powerful word is why.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/03
“I do not use the term ‘debunker.’”
“I want to find out exactly what happened.”
“Something between zero and none.”
“We should look for the truth because the truth matters,”
“I have a pitiful record when it comes to catching extraterrestrials.”
“It includes the supernatural but also things such as monsters that — if they exist — might be quite natural.”
“However, the existence of psi has never been proven”
“Such a claim is therefore based on a logical fallacy called arguing from ignorance.”
“Skeptics have a simpler explanation: they are the cunning pranks of a mischievous youth or disturbed adult.”
“‘Unexplained’ mysteries are intriguing to read, but compilations of such may exaggerate mystery by omitting facts.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/01
“As I turn 80, my fondest hope is that a genuine ET craft will land on our back patio and that I will be abducted.”
“It is time to talk sense to the public about Unidentified Flying Objects.”
“This is not the first time that an experienced pilot has mistaken a bright celestial body for a UFO, nor will it be the last.”
“Any crashed spacecraft, or major piece of a spacecraft is found to be clearly of extraterrestrial origin by the United States National Academy of Sciences.”
“But the government took no such action to try to block publication of ‘The Roswell Incident’.”
“In nearly 30 years of searching, investigating famous cases, I have yet to find one that cannot be explained in down-to-earth prosaic terms.”
“There simply is no scientifically credible evidence that we have alien visitors.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04/01
“Good criticism requires precision and care in the use of language.”
“A critic’s worst sin is to go beyond the facts and the available evidence.”
“The history of parapsychology is replete with ‘successful’ experiments that subsequently could not be replicated.”
“What is needed, of course, is a positive theory…”
“Science can only succeed when it studies phenomena that are lawful and reliably reproducible.”
“Parapsychology does not have even one paradigm experiment.”
“Science exists as a way to avoid arguments over plausibility.”
“The responsibility is yours to first provide us with evidence…”
“A paranormal claim, by definition, is one that is implausible…”
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/31
“What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.”
“Up to the present time everything that I have investigated has been the result of deluded brains.”
“My professional life has been a constant record of disillusion.”
“The camera will click; nothing will appear on the developed film.”
“There must be some plausible, natural explanation.”
“I have not yet found the true explanation.”
“I want positive proof.”
“As for spiritualism, I neither believe nor disbelieve in it.”
“There may be honest mediums, but so far I have never met one.”
“I agreed to do whatever I could to learn what deception the medium was practising in his séances.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/28
“No encontré absolutamente nada y me convertí en escéptico.”
“Hay muchos astrólogos, videntes y clarividentes publicando anuncios en los periódicos, y no encuentro ni uno solo que pueda demostrar sus poderes… algo no cuadra”.
“La ciencia requiere evidencia.”
“Necesitamos divulgadores científicos, capaces de explicar qué es la ciencia con un lenguaje claro y sencillo.”
“Si no podemos conectar con el público de forma directa y sencilla, estamos fracasando.”
“Difundir el pensamiento crítico requiere una dosis de arte.”
“Creo que los eslóganes no sirven para nada, salvo para arrastrar masas hacia la ignorancia.”
“Pensar correctamente es una de las cosas más difíciles.”
“Lo difícil es anteponer el pensamiento crítico a la emoción. Es el gran desafío.”
“En general, todos aquellos que se abstienen de aplicar el pensamiento crítico, sea por ignorancia o por interés.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/28
“The self is a construct.”
“The Enlightenment did not invent the self — it authorized it.”
“Every culture I’ve studied has a self.”
“The self, as it has evolved, is a reflective project.”
“true altruism without the expectation of social reward is possible.”
“we are our thoughts”
“A mind virus would inhibit the capacity for reason”
“humanism is perfectly compatible with aboriginality”
“science, reason and compassion can lead to material and spiritual progress.”
“The self is a culturally mediated mental representation”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/25
“…war and the ‘war of the sexes’ are neither divinely nor biologically ordained.”
“…the real wealth of nations consists of the contributions of people and of nature, and … we need economic systems.”
“…we not only need a bigger share of the present economic pie … we have to bake a new economic pie.”
“…equate difference … with superiority or inferiority, dominating or being dominated, being served or serving.”
“…the struggle for our future is… the struggle between those who cling to patterns of domination.”
“Does the curriculum teach students not only academic and vocational skills but also the life skills” needed to become competent and caring citizens, workers, parents, and community members?
“A key component of partnership education is what Eisler calls caring for life: for self, for others, and our Mother Earth.” That appears on her own site in the description of her work’s impact.
“We can build an economic system that takes us beyond communism, capitalism, and other old -isms. … We need a CARING REVOLUTION.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/25
“Thinking is uniting representations in one consciousness.”
“The synthetical unity of consciousness is, therefore, an objective condition of all cognition.”
“Experience is possible only through the representation of a necessary connection of perceptions.”
“The possibility of experience is, then, that which gives objective reality to all our à priori cognitions.”
“Experience itself requires laws which are a priori at the basis of its possibility.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/24
“We only cognize in things a priori that which we ourselves place in them.”
“Thoughts without content are empty; intuitions without concepts are blind.”
“The conditions of the possibility of experience in general, are at the same time conditions of the possibility of the objects of experience.”
“The understanding does not derive its laws (a priori) from, but prescribes them to, nature.”
“It must be possible for the ‘I think’ to accompany all my representations.”
“The world of sense contains merely appearances, which are not things in themselves.”
“By a system I mean the unity of various cognitions under one idea.”
“All pure cognitions of the understanding have this feature, that their concepts present themselves in experience.”
“It is a humiliating consideration for human reason, that it is incompetent to discover truth by means of pure speculation.”
“Autonomy of the will is that property of it by which it is a law to itself.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/24
No,
worse,
way worse.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/22
What did the UN Commission of Inquiry find in March 2026 about Ukraine, Russia, deported children, and war crimes?
In March 2026, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine updated findings on overbroad collaboration laws in Ukraine, mobilisation-related abuses, Russia’s deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children, fabricated trials, and coercive military practices. It found war crimes and crimes against humanity, while noting Ukraine’s cooperation and Russia’s non-cooperation throughout investigations.
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine provided updated findings in March 2026. The major themes were:
- abuse of courts and legal process;
- coercive military practices;
- differing levels of state cooperation;
- the treatment of Ukrainian children;
- torture and ill-treatment; and,
- crimes against humanity and war crimes.
For Ukraine, the Commission examined the Ukrainian Supreme Court rulings on “collaborative activities.” It determined the definition of “collaborative activities” remained overly broad and created legal uncertainty. The breadth risked the criminalization of conduct related to essential civilian services in the occupied territories. There were abuses linked to mobilization practices too.
The Commission identified irregular administrative detention, rushed medical examinations, lack of access to legal counsel, and reported violence against conscientious objectors. Ukraine cooperated with the Commission, and the Commission said it appreciated that cooperation. Important to note, the Commission is an independent international body guided by principles of independence, impartiality, objectivity, and integrity, with a specifically defined mandate.
For Russia, the most serious findings concerned the treatment of Ukrainian children. The Commission independently verified cases involving 1,205 children. It rejected the “evacuation” justification. Most deportations and transfers investigated were not temporary. Four years on, 80 per cent of the documented children had not yet been returned.
The Commission concluded the Russian Federation committed crimes against humanity of deportation, enforced disappearance, and forcible transfer, and the war crimes of deportation and forcible transfer, as well as the war crime of unjustifiable delay in repatriation.
In addition, the Commission found abuses in court proceedings in the Russian Federation and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war. Features of the proceedings included denial of fair-trial guarantees, fabricated evidence, predetermined verdicts, and torture/ill-treatment. Those judicial abuses were found to constitute grave breaches of international humanitarian law, amounting to war crimes.
On recruitment into the Russian armed forces, the Commission found the use of deception and coercion of foreign nationals from 17 countries. In addition, 85 soldiers who had served in the Russian armed forces and later deserted were interviewed. They described beatings, detention in pits, mock executions, and orders to shoot retreating soldiers. The Commission concluded these accounts demonstrated a total disregard for human life and dignity. The Russian Federation failed to cooperate with the Commission, leaving 39 written requests unanswered.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/16
“A NEW paradigm for medical practice is emerging.”
“Evidence based medicine seeks to empower clinicians so that they can develop independent views regarding medical claims and controversies.”
“Some evidence is more trustworthy than others.”
“Evidence itself never makes decisions.”
“Evidence is always in the context of values and preferences.”
“It is crucial to be able to distinguish evidence you can trust from evidence that is untrustworthy.”
“Time limitation remains the biggest obstacle to evidence-based practice.”
“Before EBM, there was a lot of inappropriate confidence among clinicians.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Cancer is, in essence, a genetic disease.”
“This was a human disease, and we wanted to study the real thing.”
“Tolerating failure is not simple.”
“If it’s not likely to fail, you’re not thinking big enough.”
“The best way to eradicate these cancers will be through early detection.”
“These cancers will occur no matter how perfect the environment.”
“Nothing you did or didn’t do was responsible for your illness.”
“No test will detect all cancers.”
“This test represents the next step in changing the focus of cancer research from late-stage disease to early disease.”
“This study shows the promise of MCED tests in detecting cancers very early.”
“Trust in the result is essential.”
“The history of medicine shows that when a disease is understood, it eventually becomes manageable.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/08
Jacobsen Bank, In-Sight Publishing: How does the Jacobsen Bank publication analysis document Scott Douglas Jacobsen’s 10,494–10,842+ works across 205 media outlets by alphabetical listing and rank-ordered publication totals?
The following represents a comprehensive analysis of content in the Jacobsen Bank since founding — while working part-time at an equestrian facility in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, as a ranch hand and landscaper to review the horse community in Canada — to catalogue all materials produced in the career. This database of publications includes articles, interviews, and republications in part, e.g., clippings, or whole. Future analyses would be warranted. The current date is March 8, 2026 conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine during the Russian aggression against Ukraine on International Women’s Day. The presentation will be two-fold. One, the comprehensive alphabetical listing of outlets followed by publication count per outlet, where “outlets” means blogs, news sites, opinion publications, periodicals, and other media venues. Second, the listing of the outlets for publication numbers from highest quantity to lowest quantity. Some extant draft formats may be accidentally counted in these tallies. However, there are not many. Therefore, these tallies will be close to sole authorship or co-authorship listings per outlet. To begin:
3 Quarks Daily has 3 publications.
A Further Inquiry has 80 publications; although, unarchived numbers are above 340.
A Life in Comedy has 6 publications.
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights has 1 publication.
Advice to Gifted and Talented Youth has 8 publications.
Advocacy for Alleged Witches has 2 publications.
Alessia and Marti has 1 publication.
Alliance of Former Muslims has 2 publications.
Allianz vun Humanisten Atheisten & Agnostiker has 1 publication.
American Enterprise Institute has 1 publication.
AndrewCopson.Com has 1 publication.
Anglican Link has 1 publication.
Anna Sundari has 1 publication.
Annaborgia has 6 publications.
Arab Atheist Broadcasting has 1 publication.
Aristotle / Alexander has 1 publication.
Ask A Genius has 1590 publications; although, unarchived numbers are 1635.
Assorted In-Sights has 20 publications.
Atheist Alliance of America has 6 publications.
Atheist Freethinkers has 2 publications.
Atheist Republic (Blog) has 11 publications.
Atheist Republic (News) has 84 publications.
Atheist Republic (Op-Ed) has 6 publications.
Atheist Society of Nigeria has 15 publications.
AUSU Executive Blog has 2 publications.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation has 1 publication.
Baobab Inclusive Empowerment Society has 2 publications.
Basic Income Earth Network has 22 publications.
Baylor University has 1 publication.
BioAro has 1 publication.
Bishop Accountability has 14 publications.
Boa Morte has 2 publications.
Book Foreword has 1 publication.
Book References has 9 publications.
Born To Do Math has 211 publications.
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use has 1 publication.
bruceschneier.com has 1 publication.
buddhist-essentials-and-concepts.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
Canadian Atheist has 1,131 publications.
Canadian Science has 7 publications.
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy has 54 publications.
Cannabis Life Network has 3 publications.
Cascade Institute has 1 publication.
Center for Inquiry Canada has 20 publications.
Centre for Heterodox Social Science has 1 publication.
Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies has 1 publication.
Check Your Head has 3 publications.
Church and State has 1 publication.
City Startup Labs has 1 publication.
Cognitive Thrift has 69 publications.
College Rentals has 12 publications.
Conatus News/Uncommon Ground Media Inc. has 340 publications.
Cornelius Press has 20 publications.
CounterVortex has 1 publication.
critical links has 17 publications.
Current Wave Data has 1 publication.
Dabran Platform has 1 publication.
Daily Atheist has 1 publication.
Dear Rick has 15 publications.
Develop Africa has 1 publication.
Dimmblá has 1 publication.
Doral360 has 1 publication.
Dr. Caroline Fleck has 1 publication.
СокальINFO has 84 publications.
Earth, Skin & Eden has 2 publications.
East Turkistan Government-in-Exile has 5 publications.
Ecophiles has 2 publications.
EIN Presswire has 1 publication.
Enchanting the Void has 1 publication.
Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières has 3 publications.
Freedom From Codependency has 1 publication.
Fresh Start Recovery Centre has 7 publications.
Garymclelland.blog has 1 publication.
Gordon Neighbourhood House has 10 publications.
Greek Helsinki Monitor has 1 publication.
Green Reporter has 1 publication.
grothman.house.gov has 1 publication.
Harvest House Ministries has 1 publication.
HawkeyeAssociates.Ca has 1 publication.
HerbSilverman.Com has 27 publications.
Hrvatski Focus has 1 publication.
Huffington Post has 4 publications.
Humanismus has 1 publication.
Humanist Alliance Philippines International has 3 publications.
Humanist Perspectives has 1 publication; although, unarchived numbers are 7.
Humanisten has 2 publications.
Humanists International has 20 publications.
iData Research Inc. has 1 publication.
In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal has 854 publications; although, unarchived numbers are higher.
Indian American Muslim Council has 1 publication.
Infinite Cosmology Blog has 1 publication.
International Policy Digest has 105 publications.
Irish Freethinkers & Humanists has 1 publication.
Islamic Supreme Council of Canada has 2 publications.
Jacobsen’s Jabberwocky has 3 publications.
Jain Avenue Magazine has 1 publication.
Jennifer Arrington has 10 publications.
Jewish Center for Peace has 1 publication.
Karmik has 3 publications.
kasesehumanistbizoha.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
Katsioulis.Com has 4 publications.
Kindred Media has 1 publication.
Kurdipedia has 1 publication.
La Petite Mort has 11 publications.
Learning Analytics Research Group has 2 publications.
Les News has 1 publication.
Lifespan Cognition Lab has 4 publications.
Lift Cannabis News has 3 publications.
Lost In Samsara has 1 publication.
Low Entropy has 1 publication.
Maxime Vende has 1 publication.
Medium (Humanist Voices) has 575 publications.
Medium (Other) has 1 publication.
Medium (Personal) has 1,900 publications.
Medium (Rick Rosner) has 66 publications.
Mendy Marcus has 7 publications.
Miscellaneous has 1 publication.
MomMandy has 1 publication.
MyMichiganBeach has 2 publications.
MyNewsGH has 1 publication.
Narsdoktorusa has 1 publication.
Natasha Taneka has 3 publications.
Naturalistic Paganism has 2 publications.
New Age Islam has 1 publication.
News Intervention has 287 publications.
NewsDay has 1 publication.
NEXUSNewsfeed has 1 publication.
Nimrokh Media has 1 publication.
Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society has 48 publications; although, unarchived has more.
Northeast Ohio Weddings Magazine has 11 publications.
Oceane-Group has 7 publications.
Organic Bed Threads has 1 publication.
PardesSeleh.Com has 11 publications.
Parlour News Media has 1 publication.
PB Consulting Online has 1 publication.
Pensive Quill has 9 publications.
People, Personas, and Politics has 43 publications.
Personal SubStack has 22 publications; although, unarchived may be higher.
Piece of Mind has 5 publications.
Plays has 1 publication.
Polskie Stowarzyszenie Racjonalistów has 1 publication.
PrairieCare has 1 publication.
Prof. Robert Jensen has 1 publication.
Prometheism has 12 publications.
Purples Impressions has 3 publications.
Rational Doubt has 7 publications.
Ritual Killing in Africa has 2 publications.
RND4Impact has 1 publication.
roberto.foa.name has 3 publications.
Rockmount Financial Corporation has 1 publication.
Running Point Capital has 1 publication.
Salines.ba has 1 publication.
Sarah Zentz Jewelry has 1 publication.
shiessle.com has 1 publication.
Science, Technology and Philosophy has 4 publications.
Secular Student Alliance has 1 publication.
Secularism is a Women’s Issue has 8 publications.
SikivuHutchinson.Com has 1 publication.
Skeptic Meditations has 6 publications.
Skeptic Society Magazine has 4 publications.
SocioMix has 17 publications.
Stacey Piercey Gender Consulting Blog has 5 publications
Stuff2Digital has 1 publication.
Sundari Creations has 4 publications.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has 2 publications.
Survivors Unleashed International has 1 publication.
SWAT Sociedad Anónima has 1 publication.
Synapse has 5 publications.
Tallu & Co. has 1 publication.
TeenFinance has 1 publication.
The Beam Magazine has 1 publication.
The Black Detour has 2 publications.
The Bud has 1 publication.
The Dawn Project has 2 publications.
The Future Of… has 13 publications.
The Good Death Society has 1 publication.
The Good Men Project has 1,777 publications; although, unarchived numbers are closer to the mid-1,800s.
The Humanist has 15 publications.
The Migrant Online has 2 publications.
The National Youth Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Task Force, Inc. has 7 publications.
The New Enlightenment Project has 39 publications.
The Online Therapist has 1 publication.
The Peak has 32 publications.
The Pink Triangle Trust has 1 publication.
The Rationalist has 1 publication.
The Ubyssey has 18 publications.
The Voice Magazine has 13 publications.
TheLovBud has 1 publication.
TomKin Consulting, LLC. has 10 publications.
Topical Magazine has 3 publications.
Transformative Dialogues has 1 publication.
Treasure Box Kids has 1 publication.
TrendBT has 27 publications.
Trusted Clothes has 231 publications.
U.S. Hispanic Business Council has 2 publications.
Unapologetic Atheism has 1 publication.
USIA Blog has 11 publications.
USIA Research Journal has 5 publications.
Sam.Tripod.Com has 6 publications.
Vatican Observatory has 1 publication.
Vocal.Media has 85 publications; although, unarchived numbers are more than 120.
Watchtower Documents has 1 publication.
Werner Price has 1 publication.
Westside Seniors Hub has 1 publication.
WIN ONE/Phenomenon has 53 publications.
The tally comes to 10,494 publications across 205 outlets up to 10,842+ publications across 205 outlets based on the evaluation criteria provided by the Jacobsen Bank before. Not everything has been archived and some have not been archived, perhaps — more precisely, for more than a year. Therefore, these numbers or the range provided are definitively lower than current real totals. When rank-ordered by publication total rather than by alphabetical listing, the reframed listing comes to the following:
Using the archived counts in your latest excerpt, ranked highest to lowest, with ties alphabetized, and now retaining the caveat clauses where they appear in the source text.
This ranking still uses the archived numbers as stated for ordering. In other words, the caveat-bearing entries remain placed by their archived totals, not by inferred or approximate unarchived totals. Some extant draft formats may be accidentally counted in these tallies; however, there are not many, so these numbers should remain close to sole-authorship or co-authorship counts per outlet.
Medium (Personal) has 1,900 publications.
The Good Men Project has 1,777 publications; although, unarchived numbers are closer to the mid-1,800s.
Ask A Genius has 1,590 publications; although, unarchived numbers are 1,635.
Canadian Atheist has 1,131 publications.
In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal has 854 publications; although, unarchived numbers are higher.
Medium (Humanist Voices) has 575 publications.
Conatus News/Uncommon Ground Media Inc. has 340 publications.
News Intervention has 287 publications.
Trusted Clothes has 231 publications.
Born To Do Math has 211 publications.
International Policy Digest has 105 publications.
Vocal.Media has 85 publications; although, unarchived numbers are more than 120.
Atheist Republic (News) has 84 publications.
СокальINFO has 84 publications.
A Further Inquiry has 80 publications; although, unarchived numbers are above 340.
Cognitive Thrift has 69 publications.
Medium (Rick Rosner) has 66 publications.
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy has 54 publications.
WIN ONE/Phenomenon has 53 publications.
Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society has 48 publications; although, unarchived has more.
People, Personas, and Politics has 43 publications.
The New Enlightenment Project has 39 publications.
The Peak has 32 publications.
HerbSilverman.Com has 27 publications.
TrendBT has 27 publications.
Basic Income Earth Network has 22 publications.
Personal SubStack has 22 publications; although, unarchived may be higher.
Assorted In-Sights has 20 publications.
Center for Inquiry Canada has 20 publications.
Cornelius Press has 20 publications.
Humanists International has 20 publications.
The Ubyssey has 18 publications.
critical links has 17 publications.
SocioMix has 17 publications.
Atheist Society of Nigeria has 15 publications.
Dear Rick has 15 publications.
The Humanist has 15 publications.
Bishop Accountability has 14 publications.
The Future Of… has 13 publications.
The Voice Magazine has 13 publications.
College Rentals has 12 publications.
Prometheism has 12 publications.
Atheist Republic (Blog) has 11 publications.
La Petite Mort has 11 publications.
Northeast Ohio Weddings Magazine has 11 publications.
PardesSeleh.Com has 11 publications.
USIA Blog has 11 publications.
Gordon Neighbourhood House has 10 publications.
Jennifer Arrington has 10 publications.
TomKin Consulting, LLC. has 10 publications.
Book References has 9 publications.
Pensive Quill has 9 publications.
Advice to Gifted and Talented Youth has 8 publications.
Secularism is a Women’s Issue has 8 publications.
Canadian Science has 7 publications.
Fresh Start Recovery Centre has 7 publications.
Mendy Marcus has 7 publications.
Oceane-Group has 7 publications.
Rational Doubt has 7 publications.
The National Youth Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Task Force, Inc. has 7 publications.
A Life in Comedy has 6 publications.
Annaborgia has 6 publications.
Atheist Alliance of America has 6 publications.
Atheist Republic (Op-Ed) has 6 publications.
Sam.Tripod.Com has 6 publications.
Skeptic Meditations has 6 publications.
East Turkistan Government-in-Exile has 5 publications.
Piece of Mind has 5 publications.
Stacey Piercey Gender Consulting Blog has 5 publications.
Synapse has 5 publications.
USIA Research Journal has 5 publications.
Huffington Post has 4 publications.
Katsioulis.Com has 4 publications.
Lifespan Cognition Lab has 4 publications.
Science, Technology and Philosophy has 4 publications.
Skeptic Society Magazine has 4 publications.
Sundari Creations has 4 publications.
3 Quarks Daily has 3 publications.
Cannabis Life Network has 3 publications.
Check Your Head has 3 publications.
Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières has 3 publications.
Humanist Alliance Philippines International has 3 publications.
Jacobsen’s Jabberwocky has 3 publications.
Karmik has 3 publications.
Lift Cannabis News has 3 publications.
Natasha Taneka has 3 publications.
Purples Impressions has 3 publications.
roberto.foa.name has 3 publications.
Topical Magazine has 3 publications.
Advocacy for Alleged Witches has 2 publications.
Alliance of Former Muslims has 2 publications.
Atheist Freethinkers has 2 publications.
AUSU Executive Blog has 2 publications.
Baobab Inclusive Empowerment Society has 2 publications.
Boa Morte has 2 publications.
Earth, Skin & Eden has 2 publications.
Ecophiles has 2 publications.
Humanisten has 2 publications.
Islamic Supreme Council of Canada has 2 publications.
Learning Analytics Research Group has 2 publications.
MyMichiganBeach has 2 publications.
Naturalistic Paganism has 2 publications.
Ritual Killing in Africa has 2 publications.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has 2 publications.
The Black Detour has 2 publications.
The Dawn Project has 2 publications.
The Migrant Online has 2 publications.
U.S. Hispanic Business Council has 2 publications.
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights has 1 publication.
Alessia and Marti has 1 publication.
Allianz vun Humanisten Atheisten & Agnostiker has 1 publication.
American Enterprise Institute has 1 publication.
AndrewCopson.Com has 1 publication.
Anglican Link has 1 publication.
Anna Sundari has 1 publication.
Arab Atheist Broadcasting has 1 publication.
Aristotle / Alexander has 1 publication.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation has 1 publication.
Baylor University has 1 publication.
BioAro has 1 publication.
Book Foreword has 1 publication.
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use has 1 publication.
bruceschneier.com has 1 publication.
buddhist-essentials-and-concepts.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
Cascade Institute has 1 publication.
Centre for Heterodox Social Science has 1 publication.
Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies has 1 publication.
Church and State has 1 publication.
City Startup Labs has 1 publication.
CounterVortex has 1 publication.
Current Wave Data has 1 publication.
Dabran Platform has 1 publication.
Daily Atheist has 1 publication.
Develop Africa has 1 publication.
Dimmblá has 1 publication.
Doral360 has 1 publication.
Dr. Caroline Fleck has 1 publication.
EIN Presswire has 1 publication.
Enchanting the Void has 1 publication.
Freedom From Codependency has 1 publication.
Garymclelland.blog has 1 publication.
Greek Helsinki Monitor has 1 publication.
Green Reporter has 1 publication.
grothman.house.gov has 1 publication.
Harvest House Ministries has 1 publication.
HawkeyeAssociates.Ca has 1 publication.
Hrvatski Focus has 1 publication.
Humanismus has 1 publication.
Humanist Perspectives has 1 publication; although, unarchived numbers are 7.
iData Research Inc. has 1 publication.
Indian American Muslim Council has 1 publication.
Infinite Cosmology Blog has 1 publication.
Irish Freethinkers & Humanists has 1 publication.
Jain Avenue Magazine has 1 publication.
Jewish Center for Peace has 1 publication.
kasesehumanistbizoha.blogspot.com has 1 publication.
Kindred Media has 1 publication.
Kurdipedia has 1 publication.
Les News has 1 publication.
Lost In Samsara has 1 publication.
Low Entropy has 1 publication.
Maxime Vende has 1 publication.
Medium (Other) has 1 publication.
Miscellaneous has 1 publication.
MomMandy has 1 publication.
MyNewsGH has 1 publication.
Narsdoktorusa has 1 publication.
New Age Islam has 1 publication.
NewsDay has 1 publication.
NEXUSNewsfeed has 1 publication.
Nimrokh Media has 1 publication.
Organic Bed Threads has 1 publication.
Parlour News Media has 1 publication.
PB Consulting Online has 1 publication.
Plays has 1 publication.
Polskie Stowarzyszenie Racjonalistów has 1 publication.
PrairieCare has 1 publication.
Prof. Robert Jensen has 1 publication.
RND4Impact has 1 publication.
Rockmount Financial Corporation has 1 publication.
Running Point Capital has 1 publication.
Salines.ba has 1 publication.
Sarah Zentz Jewelry has 1 publication.
Secular Student Alliance has 1 publication.
shiessle.com has 1 publication.
SikivuHutchinson.Com has 1 publication.
Stuff2Digital has 1 publication.
Survivors Unleashed International has 1 publication.
SWAT Sociedad Anónima has 1 publication.
Tallu & Co. has 1 publication.
TeenFinance has 1 publication.
The Beam Magazine has 1 publication.
The Bud has 1 publication.
The Good Death Society has 1 publication.
The Online Therapist has 1 publication.
The Pink Triangle Trust has 1 publication.
The Rationalist has 1 publication.
TheLovBud has 1 publication.
Transformative Dialogues has 1 publication.
Treasure Box Kids has 1 publication.
Unapologetic Atheism has 1 publication.
Vatican Observatory has 1 publication.
Watchtower Documents has 1 publication.
Werner Price has 1 publication.
Westside Seniors Hub has 1 publication.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/06
“The cell is a bag…filled with a Jell-O of reacting chemicals and somehow able to replicate itself.”
“While complexity can be beautiful, simplicity works better.”
“Bioinspiration — as a strategy for developing new ideas — is essentially limitless.”
“If you pick a good problem, nature does it for you.”
“You should go off and somehow work with someone who is actively an entrepreneur… for a couple of years…”
“Every field must periodically reinvent itself to remain vital.”
“…focused on… scientific papers, rather than on the solution of problems.”
“Users of technology are fundamentally not interested in technology — they are interested in solving their own problems.”
“LoC devices were more ‘test-beds-on-a-chip’ than working devices designed to solve real problems.”
“Microfluidics has the potential to influence subject areas from chemical synthesis and biological analysis to optics and information technology.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/06
“The consensus that HDL-C was protective, popularly reified in the notion of ‘good cholesterol’, strengthened over subsequent years.”
“It is sobering to realize that many issues that appear suitable targets for epidemiological investigation are simply refractory to conventional approaches.”
“The instability of these estimates was, to us, both striking and disturbing.”
“Our paper had no influence whatsoever, probably deservedly so.”
“The armed wing of health-promotion agencies had started shooting smokers as the ultimate deterrent.”
“Only two approaches proved useful in studying this issue: RCTs and Mendelian randomization (MR).”
“It is considerably easier to explain with the diagram.”
“So these things are unequivocal gains for epidemiology.”
“DAGs aren’t required to make that sort of statement.”
“I’ve seen very few examples of that which have followed on from DAG modelling.”
“‘No measurement error’ plus ‘No unmeasured confounding’ equals ‘Not epidemiological data’.”
“It’s very useful to have DAGS for transportability of the structure of biases.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/28
“The most important, though neglected risk factor of all major diseases is time.”
“The only valuable reason for doing science is a combination of intense curiosity.”
“Science always is a collective adventure.”
“Apoptosis of peripheral T cells was an in vitro artefact.”
“Be stubborn and resilient.”
“The future is bright.”
“Tests on humans might begin in a few years.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03/04
“We are on the threshold of industrial development of perovskite cells.”
“This very sophisticated system has always intrigued me enormously.”
“Nobody believed it, I carried a cell with me everywhere to convince my colleagues!”
“The dye cell is unbeatable in capturing ambient light, with very high efficiencies.”
“It is important to break down barriers between disciplines and types of actors to overcome these challenges.”
“Basic research remains very important, it is the key to everything.”
“The freedom and curiosity of the researcher, his motivation, are fundamental.”
“We started our research on dye solar cells in the eighties.”
“Hydrogen was a dream product, because hydrogen supplies electrical energy.”
“I was therefore particularly interested in photocatalytic hydrogen formation.”
“Research is progressing well and the dye cell by now has found markets where it is able to compete.”
“Next, applications will focus on the power-giving glass elements (energy glasses) and the use of ambient light to supply energy to electronic systems.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/27
“In my office. Professor Paula Pitha-Rowe called to inform me that I have been selected as the winner of the Milstein Award 2007.”
“I am very honored to be included in such prominent list, and proud of the internationally high standard of interferon research in Japan.”
“Identification of TLR9 as CpG DNA receptor.”
“Of course, TLR9. I have high hopes for TLR9 stimulating molecules in vaccine development, allergy treatment, and cancer immunotherapy.”
“IL-6 is now found to be an essential cytokine which drives Th17 response.”
“Blockade of IL-6 action or STAT3 signaling will be useful for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases.”
“I wanted to do research, and decided to pursue graduate studies at Osaka University, Medical School.”
“The encounter with both superb scientists determined my fate to become a scientist.”
“That was my first trip to the US.”
“I had difficulty in communicating in English.”
“For one, the generation of various knockout mice increased the number of papers because the mice are utilized in other laboratories in a collaborative manner.”
“Our main strategy is to find out the next research target from the phenotype of knockout mice before embarking on the in vitro experiments.”
“Medical doctor. Perhaps a novelist, but I know I will not become a good writer.”
“I like to read novels.”
“To continue the high quality of our publications, but it does not mean to simply publish papers in high-impact journals.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/27
“Maintaining a healthy weight across life stages is critical for healthy aging and for improving both lifespan and healthspan,”
“Diet does influence mood, but the reverse is also true.”
“The overall evidence has been pretty convincing that coffee has been more healthful than harmful in terms of health outcomes,”
“Evidence from studies on thousands of people shows that if you replace saturated fat with unsaturated fat, you reduce your risk of heart disease.”
“The current evidence suggests the higher [the] intake of processed meat, the higher the risk of chronic diseases and mortality,”
“There is no single, fit-for-all diet for everyone,”
“Many experimental studies have shown that components of foods or beverages may have anti-inflammatory effects,”
“Substantially raising overall protein intake without distinguishing between different protein sources may have unintended long-term health implications,”
“Ours takes a multifaceted view, asking, how does diet impact people’s ability to live independently and enjoy a good quality of life as they age?”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/24
“To make major gains against cancer we don’t need new medical discoveries,”
“That type of research is important, but we also must work to put strategies that we know prevent cancer into widespread practice.”
“Our challenge is to act on the knowledge we have,”
“We need to stack the deck for prevention — embrace the opportunity to reduce our collective cancer toll by changing the way we live.”
“The main point we want to convey is preventing cancer can be done through current knowledge and research,”
“Successful intervention models already exist.”
“The burden of cancer due to being overweight or obese is more extensive than what has been assumed,”
“Many of the newly identified cancers linked to excess weight haven’t been on people’s radar screens as having a weight component.”
“Rather than getting discouraged and giving up, those struggling to take off weight could instead focus on avoiding more weight gain.”
“This is another wake-up call. It’s time to take our health and our diets seriously.”
“Our best tool against breast cancer is early detection,”
“We can then better classify future risk and refer women to appropriate prevention strategies such as enhanced screening as part of routine breast health services.”
“We know how to prevent many cancers and chronic diseases,”
“But many people don’t know their disease risks or what, specifically, they can do to reduce those risks.”
“We’re excited to continue helping people improve their health and well-being with an updated, modern site.”
“You don’t have champions who say, ‘Your study prevented my prostate from becoming cancerous,’”
“It’s one of the bigger challenges of getting people excited about prevention.”
“There are many things we can do to interrupt this worrisome and costly trend, and the benefits go well beyond what’s obvious to the eye,”
“Some cancers, for example, can be prevented by eating a healthy diet, exercising and keeping weight in check.”
“How we create public policies or promote social change that supports less sitting is unclear and likely to be complicated,”
“As we become more successful with tobacco control, we are left with obesity as a dominant cause of cancer,”
“and the United States is leading the world in the level of overweight and obese people.”
“We are aligned in our efforts to positively impact the health of women, families and communities.”
“The long-term goal is to make this technology available to any woman having a screening mammogram anywhere in the world.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/24
“As an inventor, I study procedures and watch how surgeons use their tools in the real world.”
“I try to identify where they are having trouble… and then attempt to come up with new instruments that could help make things better.”
“…which makes me something of an oddity in my area of engineering, where people tend to be very specialized.”
“I have 15 full-sized donkeys and 20 miniature cows, so even the way I ranch is a little crazy.”
“There are always new problems and I like to solve them like Rubik’s Cubes.”
“I actually see coming into work as more of a vacation than the real thing.”
“There are two inventions that I’ve worked on during my career that I think have been particularly impactful.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/23
“You can use any material you can think of,”
“I wonder why this was a forgotten corner in the field of physics.”
“Performance has “gigantically improved” over the years,”
“It’s the fastest-growing field in materials science and nanotechnology.”
“I hope government agencies realize that.”
“People in other fields have to know this is a new scientific invention they can utilize in their product design or tech development,”
“That’s why I talk about it so much.”
“This is the first time organic materials have been used for mechanical energy conversion,”
“People should have confidence in this technology.”
“The more you work on it, the more you see how magical it is.”
“Triboelectrification is one of the most common effects in our daily life, but it is usually taken as a negative effect.”
“Here, we invented a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on organic materials that is used to convert mechanical energy into electricity.”
“Therefore, it is a new paradigm for energy harvesting.”
“The TENG community has established the core working principles, but deeper scientific understanding is needed to optimize their performance.”
“In short, we are only scratching the surface of applications that might be self-powered by TENGs.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/23
“but there’s a great need for large-scale randomized trials that assess cause and effect relationships,”
“People often assume that if some is good, more is better,”
“If you’re in poor health, you’re not outdoors walking, biking, or doing other exercise,”
“We now understand that high-quality sleep is absolutely vital to good health,”
“The message they may have heard that alcohol is good for the heart has been debunked; it’s a myth.”
“I can understand why people without prediabetes or diabetes want to check their blood sugar, because Americans have more unhealthy habits than healthy ones,”
“We know nutrition is of key importance for optimal brain health.”
“More is not necessarily better. In fact, more can be worse,”
“HT is appropriate for some, but not all, women.”
“If you’re already taking these supplements, we don’t find clear reasons for stopping, but we caution against mega-dosing.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/22
“Epidemiology is ‘the quantitative part of medicine.’”
“Every four years, we add one year to our life expectancy.”
“You live a week and you gain a weekend.”
“That’s why we call it the other pandemic.”
“There are more women who have Alzheimer’s disease than men… but that is because women live longer.”
“I can tell you I know why it is not… It is not because of aging.”
“If you want to protect your brain later on, start very early.”
“Prevention is [the solution].”
“I am hopeful, but we need to defeat the public’s fatalistic attitude.”
“Dementia is not an inevitable part of aging.”
“We have to change our behaviours to avoid it.”
“There have been enormous successes… in preventing heart attack and stroke. The same could apply to dementia.”
“Most people who are in this [field] are a bit skeptical about the diagnosis… in the UK Biobank.”
“There’s quite a bit of room and space for selection bias.”
“A focus on stabilizing blood pressure may be particularly good for the risk [of] dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/22
“We estimate more than 100,000 heart attacks will be prevented each year…”
“Those 100,000 people won’t realize they’ve avoided a heart attack…”
“Prevention does not get much attention in the public eye…”
“There is so much great-tasting food, and it’s abundant and in your face all the time.”
“Even active people who exercise a lot aren’t expending the calories their ancestors did.”
“If you put people into a locked metabolic ward…they will lose weight.”
“Many diets are a radical shift from what people normally eat, and this is not sustainable.”
“Even today…people still think that eating fat makes them fat, and they try to find low-fat products.”
“Eating fat doesn’t make you fat.”
“Adopt a healthy diet, and eat just a little bit less.”
“For most people, long-term weight control is hard without some physical activity.”
“I’m a strong advocate of not just aerobic activity but also weight training and calisthenics.”
“The scientific evidence to my eye is meager, but I like the concept.”
“We’ve all had that experience of eating… and not even remembering having eaten it.”
“The study shows quite clearly the risk” associated with being overweight.
“That these are risk factors is ‘old news,’”
“The new part is putting it all together and quantifying the benefits.”
“Over 80% of these heart attacks could be prevented.”
“People [think] that ‘fat is bad’ and ‘low-fat’ is healthy,”
“It’s not that simple.”
“If you do that, you’re robbing obesity of the way it works to raise risk,”
“Women should not be complacent about being overweight…”
“I think physicians could do more,”
“Societal pressures don’t seem to be working very well.”
“However, we observed a significant increase in risk of cardiovascular disease…among occasional snorers…”
“If you look at brain cancer…there’s no suggestion at all of any increase in rates,”
“In science, unlike math, we can’t have absolute certainty…”
“…this is not a health risk I would be concerned about at all.”
“We’ve still got some of last year’s candy in the freezer,”
“I wouldn’t want to give anyone the impression…saturated fat is good for you,”
“We still want people to eat a low saturated fat diet.”
“As a PhD scientist…you really need to understand the clinical issues,”
“I have never discussed beer’s health benefits specifically, and do not propose to do so,”
“There are dozens and dozens of studies showing that individuals with moderate levels of alcohol consumption have lower rates of heart disease…”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/20
“When you pick a career, don’t do it because of money… you’ll love it and it could have an impact on the world.”
“Because I knew something about engineering and something about medicine, I was able to put those concepts together to come up with new ideas.”
“You’d think ‘Well, you could combine them,’ and that would give me ideas that nobody at that time had.”
“In fact, really the only thing I had going for me is I hadn’t read that literature!”
“I found over 200 ways to get it to not work.”
“I’m an optimist… I think then and I think now that most things are possible.”
“What can we do with our skills and with our people that can make the biggest impact on the world?”
“Knowing how to deal with failure is an essential key to success.”
“I’ve probably failed hundreds of times before I’ve gotten the success.”
“Successful people are often those who deal well with failure.”
“Nobody before us had done that, and we were told it was impossible.”
“I don’t like to give up.”
“I learned that if you’re not your own champion, nobody else will be.”
“Rather than take it from your house, why don’t you ask the question, ‘What do you really want in this material…?’”
“If you really believe in what you’re trying to do, ‘no’ is not going to stop you.”
“I would not be where I am today without having had so much support and help from so many people.”
“Chemistry just is so fundamental to everything.”
“Reactions can happen, and you can make things that you could never make before.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/19
“Science and technology … are among the most powerful forces ever devised to better the human condition.”
“We see amazing opportunities ahead, but also unprecedented challenges.”
“To succeed, America will need to draw on all of its assets — chief among them, our unrivaled diversity.”
“And it’s this virtuous cycle between fundamental basic science and highly applied medical science, where each drives the other.”
“The world moves farther and faster than most people think.”
“Scholarship is the sum of two things: knowledge and imagination.”
“They said, not a chance, we never imagined that we’d be able, in our lifetime, be able to read out all that information.”
“I think we can enlist the full power of science in the service of justice.”
“Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge … contributes … to our collective understanding of the natural world.”
“In elevating OSTP to the Cabinet, President Biden made clear that science and technology will be central to solving the nation’s most urgent challenges.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/19
“Nobody would be shocked if we found that 99.9 percent of the U.S. population had had a physical illness.”
“We can treat mental disorders as successfully as diabetes or asthma.”
“We can do a good job, but we don’t do a good job.”
“The typical person with a mental illness takes a decade before getting treatment.”
“Everyone is so concerned about the costs of treating mental disorders. But how about the costs of not treating them?”
“Prevention is much less developed in mental disorders than in other areas of medicine.”
“In psychiatry and psychology it is like we are practising 1950s cardiology, where you wait for a heart attack.”
“No one would be shocked if we learned that 99% of people had a physical illness during their life…”
“…we’ve all had the common cold form of mental illness at some point.”
“Half of all lifetime cases start by age 14 years and three fourths by age 24 years.”
“About half of Americans will meet the criteria for a DSM-IV disorder sometime in their life, with first onset usually in childhood or adolescence.”
“Interventions aimed at prevention or early treatment need to focus on youth.”
“Roughly half of all lifetime mental disorders in most studies start by the mid-teens and three quarters by the mid-20s.”
“These surveys consistently show that one-fourth of adults in developed countries experience significant mental health problems each year.”
“The vast majority of people with mental disorders can be treated effectively with existing therapies.”
“Therapeutic success usually requires trial-and-error.”
“We have to do a better job of selecting optimal first line treatments. Lives depend on it.”
“Only about half of people who received treatment met diagnostic criteria for a disorder.”
“Despite increased treatment, most mental disorders remain untreated.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/17
“It must be something that they enjoy. It can’t be punishment.”
“Our endorsement of increased protein and red meat intake is simply wrong and dangerous to the health of Americans.”
“If someone has a good diet then they probably don’t need a supplement.”
“The idea that we need lot of calcium is based primarily on very short-term studies looking at calcium balance over a few weeks,”
“If someone replaces eggs with doughnuts, other refined starches and sugar or saturated fats, I’d rather they eat eggs,”
“The Planetary Health Diet is not a one-size-fits-all approach,”
“It allows for cultural diversity and individual preferences, providing flexibility within clear guidelines to achieve optimal health and sustainability outcomes worldwide.”
“The fat composition of beef is so undesirable for health that it’s very easy to be better than that,”
“The whole system is unimaginably dysfunctional; it’s destroying our environment and our health at the same time,”
“This will save many hundreds, and probably thousands, of premature deaths each year in New York …”
“It was a struggle every step,”
“I was really by myself for a long time.”
“Some food additives are good, some are bad, most are probably neutral,”
“Any one example doesn’t make the case.”
“Dietary cholesterol doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels very much.”
“No, it’s a myth that eating specifically high-fat foods makes you fat.”
“Our decisions about drinking in the United States shouldn’t be influenced by what alcohol does to tuberculosis,”
“The world’s diets must change dramatically.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/17
“The social world is accumulated history.”
“Capital is accumulated labor (in its materialized form or its ‘incorporated,’ embodied form).”
“Cultural capital can exist in three forms: in the embodied state.”
“Like the acquisition of a muscular physique or a suntan, it cannot be done at second hand.”
“This embodied capital … cannot be transmitted instantaneously.”
“Social capital is the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network.”
“The volume of the social capital possessed by a given agent thus depends on the size of the network of connections he can effectively mobilize.”
“It exerts a multiplier effect on the capital he possesses in his own right.”
“Systems of durable, transposable dispositions.”
“Structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures.”
“Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.”
“Symbolic power is a power of constructing reality…”
“The function of sociology, as of every science, is to reveal that which is hidden.”
“The opinion poll is, at the present time, an instrument of political action.”
“Its most important function is perhaps to impose the illusion that a public opinion exists.”
“Complete power is only realized when it is fully concealed.”
“Yesterday said ‘God is on our side’ today says ‘Public Opinion is on our side.’”
“Symbolic power is that invisible power which can be exercised only with the complicity of those who do not want to know…”
“All pedagogic action [PA] is, objectively, symbolic violence insofar as it is the imposition of a cultural arbitrary by an arbitrary power.”
“Symbolic violence can do what political and police violence can do, but more efficiently.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/15
“For truth does not oppose truth, but rather agrees with and bears witness to it.”
“Since the law is true, … demonstrative reasoning does not lead to disagreement with what the law sets down.”
“We seek those statements that correspond to the truth, even if they contradict the opinions of people who belong to the art.”
“Because of the universality of the teaching of the Precious Book … this religion is common to all mankind.”
“A miracle [is] merely ‘an external sign’ of prophecy.”
“A miracle alone … is at best complementary, and an argument from miracles is merely persuasive or rhetorical.”
“Our intention in these matters is only the rules governing the law, not an enumeration of the branches, which would have no end.”
“Apparently, we do not have any of the premises that bring us certainty in many of these pursuits.”
“But even so we must try, insofar as we are able.”
“The goal of this art is not to heal without fail … but rather to act appropriately.”
“It is this part of medicine that I believe restrains me from being perfect in this art.”
“The Qur’an…is eternal but the words denoting it are created by God Almighty, not by men.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/16
“Felicity is the good which is pursued for its own sake … and there is nothing greater beyond it for man to obtain.”
“Religion is opinions and actions … prescribed for a community by their first ruler.”
“The philosophers in the city are those who know these things through strict demonstrations and their own insight;”
“Theoretical reason … has as its purpose to bring man to felicity.”
“ultimate happiness, which is the good without qualification.”
“It is what is preferred and yearned after for its own sake … for the sake of something else.”
“the one whose inhabitants mutually assist one another … the final perfection, which is ultimate happiness.”
“The king in truth is the one whose purpose and intention … are to provide … true happiness.”
“they are not parts of the city by their inborn nature alone but rather by the voluntary habits which they acquire”
“these things can be known in two ways … as they really are … through affinity and symbolic representation.”
“The ‘ignorant’ city is the city whose inhabitants do not know true felicity”
“each of these is a kind of felicity … the sum total of all of them.”
“the ruler of the city is the most perfect part of the city in his specific qualification”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/15
“…have never inhaled the perfume of real existence at all.”
“Until my God guided me and showed me his proof.”
“Every simple reality is, by virtue of its unity, all things.”
“The soul is corporeal in its origination and spiritual [or incorporeal] in its survival.”
“Knowledge is the mode of the existence of something that is disengaged from matter.”
“Knowledge of self is nothing but the self itself.”
“The reality of every thing is its existence”
“How does then knowledge become clear by anything other than itself?”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/15
“Truth is that which is connected with the truthful master.”
“Falsehood is that which is severed from him.”
“Every science has a subject-matter.”
“Metaphysics is that in which all sciences culminate.”
“Prospered has he who purifies it.”
“و وجوده لطف، و تصرّفه لطف آخر، و غيبته منّا.”
“Whose reality no intellect can fathom.”
“After writing the book entitled Nasirian Ethics.”
“Preoccupations and vain obstacles did not permit him.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/12
“However, it is an established fact that the Book of Allah, the Exalted, takes precedence over the traditions and reports.”
“Hence it should be the touchstone for determining the genuine reports and the fabrications.”
“(We believe) that the correct doctrine is a middle course between these two extremes.”
“Everything that is not prohibited by nass (i.e., the specific ordinances of religion) is permitted…”
“Things according to the dictates of reason fall into two categories…”
“And even if we lack traditions, then the proof of reason is, indeed, sufficient in this respect.”
“Justice is the recompense of an action as it deserves, and injustice is the prevention of what is due.”
“The word yad has another interpretation which denotes grace.”
“Here, by ‘The two hands’, are meant the two favours of this life and the life hereafter.”
“Thus, all worship Him to gain His grace and they do not serve Him in vain…”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/11
“It was the effect of a light which God Most High cast into my breast. And that light is the key to most knowledge.”
“Every knowledge unaccompanied by safety from error is not sure and certain knowledge.”
“Nature is totally subject to God Most High: it does not act of itself but is used as an instrument by its Creator.”
“The door to the knowledge of God will be opened to a man first of all, when he knows his own soul.”
“That the soul is like a clean mirror, into which whenever a person looks, he may there see God.”
“The ruin of the soul consists in the predominance of some other love over the love of God, which veils the divine love.”
“Man ought to make every possible exertion to gain the knowledge of God, because the knowledge of God necessitates the love of God.”
“The necessities of the constitution of the spirit are to know God and to contemplate his beauty and excellence.”
“The stars and the constellations are subject to the angels, and the angels can do nothing without the command of God.”
“The knowledge of what [the spirit] is in reality, is the key to the knowledge of God.”
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“The Prophetic Office of the Prophet … is built upon this miracle.”
“The miracle of the Qur’an remains effective, everlasting, and challenging until the Day of Resurrection.”
“Those miracles all belonged to special times, special circumstances, and concerned special individuals.”
“The Qur’an is miraculously inimitable because it has come forth with the most eloquent words.”
“Compounded in the most beautiful composition.”
“Containing the most valid ideas such as believing in the unity of God.”
“He is ascended above His Throne, just as He informed [us] in His Book.”
“If He was in every place, then He would have been in a man’s stomach.”
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“None knows God except God.”
“Know that there are two types of gnosis (ma‘rifa): indirect (‘aradi) and direct (dhati).”
“What we have negated is only the direct gnosis of God, so bear this nuance in mind lest you fall into error.”
“All praise is for God entails that He was ever Praiseworthy prior to anyone’s praise or thanks.”
“All praise is for God means that praise is His right and possession.”
“Praise expresses an attribute of the heart.”
“The true Merciful One is He Who created that motivation in the heart, and that is none but God.”
“Thus whoever worships God seeking [primarily] reward … [is] worshipping the reward.”
“Whoever lowers himself for God’s sake, God raises him.”
“Anyone who comes to know the benefits of worship will find delight in performing it, and find it difficult to be away from it.”
Photo by Abdullah Arif on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“My heart has become capable of every form.”
“We return what is God’s to God. There is nothing found and nothing making found except God.”
“The True does not accept boundary; and nothing is veiled from Him, and nothing veils Him.”
“The human being is the ‘child of one’s moment’.”
“The Divine rule is according to what the moment provides.”
“There is no owner but God.”
“Everyone is a slave of God.”
“God is a gentle friend to the faithful.”
“The beginning never stops.”
“When the human being says to himself that he should do something good… let him intend… a nearing to God.”
Photo by Sidik Kurniawan on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“In Islam, the word ibadah, or worship is a comprehensive term referring to everything, inward and outward that Allah Loves and is Pleased with.”
“The world will endure with justice and unbelief, but it will not endure with oppression and Islam.”
“What can my enemies do to me? My paradise and my garden are in my heart wherever I go.”
“Truly, there is a Heaven in this world, [and] whoever does not enter it, will not enter the Heaven of the next world.”
“If I am imprisoned, it is seclusion for worship.”
“If I am killed, it is martyrdom.”
“If they expel me from my land, it is tourism.”
“Among the fundamentals of Ahl al-Sunnah is to confirm the miracles of the saints (al-Awliyā’).”
“Part of faith in Allah is to have faith… without distortion and negation, and without asking ‘how’ or likening Him to something else.”
“This is the creed of the saved and victorious group until the establishment of the Hour, Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jamā’ah.”
Photo by The Dancing Rain on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“It is compulsory upon [each individual] to choose their faith by themselves and [as a result] know the truth.”
“Faith is tested and recognised by two methods: tradition … and the intellect.”
“This proves that one is not excused for performing Taqlfd [following someone without knowing the evidence].”
“The one who relies on proof for [issues relating to] his faith is the one who is following the truth.”
“what we follow is the truth and what others follow is falsehood.”
“Shaykh [Abu Mansur] stated that both of these opinions are incorrect and are not acceptable in uncovering the truth.”
“The proof that the creator of the Universe is one and not more than that is based on reason as well as tradition.”
“There is no strength to fin d the truth except bj God.”
“God is known not by the senses.”
“It is proven that God knew it before it existed, when there was nothing other than Him.”
Photo by Sidik Kurniawan on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“The Necessary Existent must be one in [its] entirety… and one in number…”
“The true nature of the Necessary Existent can in no manner be shared by another.”
“The existence of the Necessary Existent cannot at all be a composite, [deriving] from multiplicity.”
“That the Necessary Existent has no cause is obvious.”
“He must… look attentively as to whether he will affirm that he exists… He will not have doubts about whether or not to do so.”
“There is no doubt that he would affirm his own existence, although not affirming the reality of any of his limbs…”
“Medicine is the science that teaches us the conditions of the human body, in terms of what is healthy and what is not.”
“The goal is to protect health when it exists and recover it when it is lost.”
“Hence, all things other than the One Necessary Existent are, in themselves, false.”
“The statements most deserving of being [called] true are those whose truth is permanent…”
Photo by Syed Aoun Abbas on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“We say that God is seated on His Throne, as He has said, ‘The Merciful is seated on the Throne.’”
“Whosoever questions us and says, ‘Do you believe God has a face?’, the answer is: We believe it.”
“If we were asked, ‘Do you believe God has two hands?’, the answer is: We believe it.”
“The command of God is His word, and this makes it necessarily true that the Word of God is uncreated.”
“The Qur’ān is uncreated, because it is the Word of God and God does not say to His Word, ‘Be!’”
“It is impossible for the Word of God to be a word belonging to a created thing.”
“This proves that God is upon His Throne above the heaven.”
“We do not reach Him with the sight of the eyes … but that does not deny … those who have sight behold Him.”
“Muslims have agreed unanimously, namely, that what God wishes to be, is, and what He does not wish, is not.”
“God has taught His Prophet the religious laws … but He cannot teach him what He does not know.”
“The meaning of God’s words ‘before him whom I have created with My two hands’ is an assertion of the existence of two hands.”
“Work your works, for everyone does easily that for which he was created.”
Photo by The Dancing Rain on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“It was the effect of a light which God Most High cast into my breast. And that light is the key to most knowledge.”
“Every knowledge unaccompanied by safety from error is not sure and certain knowledge.”
“Nature is totally subject to God Most High: it does not act of itself but is used as an instrument by its Creator.”
“The door to the knowledge of God will be opened to a man first of all, when he knows his own soul.”
“That the soul is like a clean mirror, into which whenever a person looks, he may there see God.”
“The ruin of the soul consists in the predominance of some other love over the love of God, which veils the divine love.”
“Man ought to make every possible exertion to gain the knowledge of God, because the knowledge of God necessitates the love of God.”
“The necessities of the constitution of the spirit are to know God and to contemplate his beauty and excellence.”
“The stars and the constellations are subject to the angels, and the angels can do nothing without the command of God.”
“The knowledge of what [the spirit] is in reality, is the key to the knowledge of God.”
Photo by Malik Shibly on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Love is a good disposition of the soul by which one prefers no being to the knowledge of God.”
“Love is a holy state of the soul, disposing it to value the knowledge of God above all created things.”
“He who loves God will certainly love his neighbor as well.”
“Detachment begets love. Hope in God begets detachment.”
“The church of God is like a human being, having the sanctuary as its soul, and the nave as its body.”
“Conversely, the human being is a mystical church.”
“…and God became man in order to save lost man.”
“…the blessed end for which all things are ordained.”
“It is the mystery which circumscribes all the ages.”
“For the Word of God wills always and in all things to accomplish the mystery of his embodiment.”
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“For He was made man that we might be made God.”
“He assumed a human body, in order that in it death might once for all be destroyed.”
“That men might be renewed according to the Image.”
“The Image of the Father only was sufficient for this need.”
“He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father.”
“He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality.”
“Wherefore He is very God, existing one in essence with the very Father.”
“He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father.”
“The Holy Spirit likewise… cannot be a creature, and it is impious to call him so.”
“Death has become like a tyrant who has been completely conquered.”
Photo by abdullah ali on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament.”
“I do not believe that I have been a weak Prime Minister. That is for historians to judge.”
“But if by ‘strong Prime Minister’, you mean that you preside over a mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, that is the measure of strength, I do not believe that sort of strength this country needs, least of all, in its Prime Minister.”
“I do not minimise the difficulties that lie ahead on the long and arduous journey on which we have embarked.”
“But as Victor Hugo once said, ‘No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come’.”
“I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one such idea.”
“To achieve our objective of inclusive growth, we need to pay much greater attention to education, health care and rural development focusing particularly on the needs of the poor — Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities.”
“We would like to make globalization a win-win game.”
“Globalisation must be accompanied by a more balanced and equitable distribution of its benefits.”
“If there is an ‘idea of India’ by which India should be defined, it is the idea of an inclusive, open, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual society.”
Photo by Nastaran Taghipour on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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If you want to mix religion and government,
and if the government becomes trash,
then, automatically, the religion will be mixed with trash,
so seen as trash:
Do you want that risk?
Photo by akhmad jazuli on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“When I spoke to you last, I promised quick and bold measures to restore our sick economy to health.”
“We have taken the first step to fulfill that promise. This is the beginning.”
“Desperate maladies call for desperate remedies.”
“Our message was simple — you cannot import if you do not export.”
“My objective is to make India truly self-reliant.”
“Self-reliance is not a mere slogan for me.”
“My motto is — trade, not aid.”
“Aid is a crutch. Trade builds pride.”
“We believe that a bulk of government regulations and controls on our economic activity have outlived their utility.”
“Friends, it will be dishonest for me to pretend that the job of repairing our economy will be easy, quick, or smooth.”
Photo by Raghu Nayyar on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“You want me to talk to you in English. I shall obey your command; but take it from me that it will not be long before you yourselves will have to speak in our national language.”
“Free India is only a child of a year and a half.”
“History will record what we are doing today.”
“The first requisite for building a strong, free India is unity and peace.”
“You cannot expect the Government continuously to maintain peace by force.”
“We lost our leader because we forgot the very first lesson.”
“If we do not realise even after his going that in unity lies our strength, then greater misfortune will befall us.”
“For unity, we must forget differences of caste and creed and remember that we are all Indians, and all equal.”
“All must have equal opportunities, equal rights and equal responsibilities.”
“I am convinced and I remain convinced that our having agreed to partition has been for the good of the country.”
Photo by Raghu Nayyar on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.”
“For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent.”
“A people and their religion must be judged by social standards based on social ethics.”
“I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.”
“Educate, agitate, organize.”
“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated.”
“The Constitution is not a mere lawyer’s document; it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age.”
“Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny.”
“Turn in any direction you like, caste is the monster that crosses your path.”
“Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers, but by relentless struggle.”
Photo by Sylwia Bartyzel on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/27
Sometimes, the welcome mat,
is wherever the hell you are,
and you lay it out yourself.
The dog may have pooped on it.
The cat may have pissed on it.
But it says, “Welcome,”
and it is yours, after all.
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.”
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.”
“A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance.”
“Freedom and power bring responsibility.”
“The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.”
“Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.”
“A blind reverence for the past is bad and so also is a contempt for it, for no future can be founded on either of these.”
“The scientific temper points out the way along which man should travel. It is the temper of a free man.”
“It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty… The future belongs to science and to those who make friends with science.”
“Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.”
Photo by Anubhav Maurya on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“The End of History” is also history.
Therefore, there is no end of history,
which means,
it’s always transitional history.
Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Aren’t they supposed to go too far?
I thought that was the point.
Photo by Lorena Zuleta on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Religion cannot be imposed by force; the matter must be carried on by words rather than by blows.”
“There is no occasion for violence and injury.”
“And thus no one is detained by us against his will.”
“Torture and piety are widely different; nor is it possible for truth to be united with violence, or justice with cruelty.”
“For religion is to be defended, not by putting to death, but by dying.”
“If you wish to defend religion by bloodshed… it will be polluted and profaned.”
“For nothing is so much a matter of free-will as religion.”
“…if the mind of the worshipper is disinclined to it, religion is at once taken away, and ceases to exist.”
“Whose temple is not stones or clay, but man himself, who bears the image of God.”
“We… do not require that any one should be compelled… to worship our God.”
Photo by Mauricio Artieda on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“The world is long overdue for a completely new system of governance.”
“If there was ever a need for political representation … it has been removed by technology.”
“Every political system we have tried has devolved into oligarchy.”
“Democracy is a universally failed concept … because the ideas were flawed to begin with.”
“A pure direct democracy is a pure tyranny of the majority.”
“The first right of any person … must be the right to communicate.”
“Without communication there is no way to safeguard our other rights …”
“[Ideas should be] evaluated and fact checked on their own merits …”
“Bad data can come from good places and vice versa.”
“We can’t eat the economy.”
“All of society’s problems which could be solved by money were caused by money.”
“Corporate ownership of our communication tools will cause us to yet again relinquish control to a landlord.”
Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/21
You can make fire from ice, you know?
Be stillwater of mindscape, tell.
The thought is the fire, you know?
The body is the ice, yell.
You can make fire from ice, you know?
Mould ice to lens and focus the Sun, melt.
Disperse or converge the light, you know?
Cold hands can be made warm, dealt.
Ace, King, five, and palm, are titles,
you know.
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Knowledge is never too dear.”
“Tell a lie, and find a truth.”
“Speak no more than you may safely retreat from without danger, or fairly go through with without opposition.”
“Video et taceo.”
“A habit of secrecy is policy and virtue.”
“To him men’s faces spoke as much as their tongues.”
“He must observe the joints and flexures of affairs.”
“I call God to witness that as a private person I have done nothing unbeseeming an honest man.”
“I confess… I have curiously searched out all the practices against the same.”
“There is less danger in fearing too much than too little.”
“There is nothing more dangerous than security.”
Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/19
Is no conspiracy the conspiracy,
or the speculative conspiracy,
the premise of the real conspiracy?
What if… and more,
to see, indeed, to know?
Photo by benjamin lehman on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“Do not impose upon others what you yourself do not desire.”
“Love men.”
“Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.”
“Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?”
“He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star…”
“The superior man understands righteousness (yi); the inferior man understands profit.”
“When we see men of worth, we should think of equalling them… examine ourselves.”
“The gentleman is easy of mind, while the small man is always full of anxiety.”
“Set your will on the Way… Rely on humanity… Find recreation in the arts.”
“If the will be set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness.”
Photo by Yosuke Ota on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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1886: “I would like to know now who it was that gave the order to arrest me and hang me. I was living peaceably there with my family under the shade of the trees, doing just what General Crook had told me I must do and trying to follow his advice. I want to know now who it was ordered me to be arrested. I was praying to the light and to the darkness, to God and to the sun, to let me live quietly with my family. I don’t know what the reason was that people should speak badly of me. I don’t want to be blamed.”
1886: “What is the matter that you don’t speak to me? It would be better if you would speak to me and look with a pleasant face. It would make better feeling. I would be glad if you did. I’d be better satisfied if you would talk to me once in a while. Why don’t you look at me and smile at me? I am the same man; I have the same feet, legs, and hands, and the sun looks down on me a complete man. I want you to look and smile at me.”
1886: “There is one God looking down on us all. We are all children of the one God. God is listening to me. The sun, the darkness, the winds, are all listening to what we now say.”
1903: “My body is sick and my friends have thrown me away. I have been a very wicked man, and my heart is not happy. I see that white people have found a way that makes them good and their hearts happy. I want you to show me that way.”
1905: “Take the ropes from our hands.”
1906: “We are vanishing from the earth, yet I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each. For each tribe of men Usen created He also made a home. In the land created for any particular tribe He placed whatever would be best for the welfare of that tribe… When they are taken from these homes they sicken and die. How long will it be until it is said, there are no Apaches?”
1906: “As a babe I rolled on the dirt floor of my father’s tepee, hung in my tsoch (Apache name for cradle) at my mother’s back, or suspended from the bough of a tree. I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds, and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. When a child my mother taught me the legends of our people; taught me of the sun and sky,’ the moon and stars, the clouds and storms. She also taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We never prayed against any person, but if we had aught against any individual we ourselves took vengeance. We were taught that Usen does not care for the petty quarrels of men.”
1906: “Because he has given me permission to tell my story; because he has read that story and knows I try to speak the truth; because I believe that he is fair-minded and will cause my people to receive justice in the future; and because he is chief of a great people, I dedicate this story of my life to Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States.”
1906: “I am thankful that the President of the United States has given me permission to tell my story. I hope that he and those in authority under him will read my story and judge whether my people have been rightly treated.”
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Some emotions,
too heavy:
Totalizing,
at times.
Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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1907: “This year money is pretty hard every where.”
1909: “Congress has set aside money for me to remove the body of my Mother Cynthia Ann Parker and build a monunt”
1910: “I want my people follow after white way, get educate, know work, make living when payments stop.”
1910: “We love you white men, but we have fear of your success because it is so dry.”
Photo by Cayetano Gil on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Is the timeline up to you,
or to them?
There is no necessary destination in those matters.
Photo by Alinson torres on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“They are fooling us; there is no God.”
“All this talk about God is … nonsense.”
“The first thing we had to do … was to become atheists.”
“In protest … I … did become … a revolutionary, a believer in Marxism.”
“The Vatican is a centre of reaction … [an] organization of subversion and espionage.”
“Religion is opium for the people.”
“We don’t need an ally for talk and incense.”
“Never put the struggle against the clergy … on the religious plane … but … the political plane.”
“How many divisions has the Pope?”
Photo by Adventure Albania on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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“…belief in gods, devils, miracles, and the like.”
“Religion is opium for the people.”
“…leaves heaven to the priests… and tries to win a better life… on earth.”
“Everyone must be… free… to be an atheist, which every socialist is, as a rule.”
“Why do we not forbid Christians and other believers in God to join our Party?”
“Our propaganda necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism…”
“…paradise on earth is more important… than… paradise in heaven.”
“We must not only admit workers who preserve their belief in God… we must… recruit them…”
“…we recruit them… not… to permit an active struggle against [our programme].”
“…a writer begins to preach ‘god-building’…”
Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/02
“Man makes religion, religion does not make man.”
“Religion is the opium of the people.”
“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world…”
“The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness.”
“The criticism of religion disillusions man…”
“Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man…”
“…the criticism of Heaven turns into the criticism of Earth…”
“Man… has found only the reflection of himself in the fantastic reality of heaven…”
“Every religion which is not theirs is an invention of men, while their own is an emanation from God.”
“The religious reflex of the real world can… only then finally vanish, when… everyday life offer[s]… reasonable relations…”
Photo by Maximilian Scheffler on Unsplash
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
Anton Zelinskyi is a Ukrainian legal-reform advocate and Advocacy Manager at the DEJURE Foundation, working on judicial transparency, integrity vetting, and anti-corruption accountability. He is a member of the Public Integrity Council, which assesses judicial candidates and judges undergoing qualification review. In January 2026 he co-authored a Ukrainska Pravda investigation showing that, despite the 2022 liquidation of Kyiv’s District Administrative Court (OASK), the state spent about UAH 157 million over three years on judges’ remuneration while key cases stalled. He tracks how procedural sabotage, disciplinary bottlenecks, and Supreme Court rulings can revive discredited judges—especially during wartime—so reform can endure long-term.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Anton Zelinskyi, Advocacy Manager at the DEJURE Foundation and a member of Ukraine’s Public Integrity Council, about the scandal of “ghost-court” salaries after the 2022 liquidation of OASK. Zelinskyi explains that roughly UAH 157 million still went to judges because formal dismissal procedures stalled, allowing compromised figures to keep judicial status and pay. He argues disciplinary and qualification mechanisms matter because criminal cases can be delayed into uselessness through procedural sabotage. The conversation frames OASK as a corruption symbol whose legacy still threatens wartime judicial reform, accountability, and long-term institutional resilience in Ukraine at the highest levels.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Your January 2026 investigation cites ~UAH 157 million paid to OASK judges over three years. Why did this happen?
Anton Zelinskyi: Despite the official liquidation of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv (DACK or OASK in Ukrainian) in December 2022, approximately 157 million UAH has been paid from the state budget to its judges over the last three years. This occurred because more than 40 OASK judges still retain their judicial status and continue to receive substantial judicial remuneration. Even though the court was a “symbol of corruption” that blocked judicial reforms and even prepared a scenario for Yanukovych’s return during the full-scale invasion, the judges remain on the payroll because the administrative process for their removal has not been completed.
Jacobsen: What were the primary data sources for this investigation?
Zelinskyi: The primary data source for the financial figures was an official written response from the liquidation commission of the OASK. This means the amounts we cite are not estimates or reconstructions, but exact figures recorded in the commission’s official accounting and reporting. In other words, we can trace and substantiate the calculation down to each hryvnia based on the commission’s documented data (including line items and totals), rather than relying on assumptions, media reporting, or secondary datasets.
Jacobsen: Why is this investigation significant?
Zelinskyi: The significance lies in the staggering opportunity cost of these payments during a time of war. The 157 million UAH spent on “judicial inactivity” is equivalent to the cost of tens of thousands of strike FPV drones or thousands of interceptor drones that could be protecting Ukrainian cities. Furthermore, the investigation reveals a systemic failure: the High Council of Justice (HCJ) and the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) have been unable or unwilling to finalize the dismissal of these judges, allowing them to keep their privileges and potentially escape into “honorary resignation” with lifetime monthly payments at the taxpayers’ expense.
Jacobsen: What legal/administrative mechanism kept the money flowing after OASK was liquidated?
Zelinskyi: Under Ukrainian law, the liquidation of a court does not automatically terminate a judge’s employment or salary. A judge can only be dismissed by the High Council of Justice (HCJ) following specific procedures: qualification assessment or disciplinary proceedings. Until the HCJ makes a final decision, these judges are legally entitled to their remuneration. Many OASK judges have successfully exploited this by “falling sick” to avoid exams or relying on the HCJ’s lack of a quorum to stall disciplinary actions.
Jacobsen: Why are disciplinary and qualification routes faster than criminal trials?
Zelinskyi: These administrative routes are more efficient because they operate under a lower standard of proof than criminal law. Crucially, the decision to dismiss a judge through these channels does not depend on a final guilty verdict in a criminal court. This allows the judicial system to purge itself of unfit members based on integrity concerns even while a criminal trial is still ongoing.
Jacobsen: In the HACCU case (No. 991/2030/22), what delay tactics have been effective for the defense?
Zelinskyi: The defense, led by figures like Pavlo Vovk and Yevhenii Ablov, has employed several creative and systemic tactics:
• The Braille Requirement: They involved a lawyer with a visual impairment and demanded that all 220 volumes of the case be translated into Braille.
• “Procedural Football”: They continuously appeal every procedural decision, shifting the burden between the HACCU Appeals Chamber and the Supreme Court to stall progress.
• Absurd Excuses: Hearings have been postponed for reasons as trivial as a defense attorney taking their children to a water park.
• Systemic Absence: Frequent non-appearances, constant changes of lawyers, and a “mountain” of recusal motions against judges.
Jacobsen: In case No. 757/21651/24-к, how would limitation periods wipe out accountability?
Zelinskyi: This case, involving the blocking of the HQCJ’s work, spent years being shuffled between judges in the Pecherkyi District Court due to constant self-recusals. By the time it reached the Podilskyi Court for trial in late 2025, the statutes of limitation had almost expired. This reveals a critical flaw in the Ukrainian criminal-procedure design: defendants can use procedural maneuvers to delay a trial until it is legally impossible for the court to impose punishment, effectively granting them impunity through exhaustion.
Jacobsen: Is the ghost-court era ending, and what indicates this trend?
Zelinskyi: The ghost-court era is not clearly ending. Right now, it looks more like stagnation and a real risk of rollback than a clean finish.
The biggest danger sits in the Supreme Court, because it can set a precedent that changes the rules for everyone. The key issue is wiretap evidence (NSRD). If the Supreme Court says this evidence cannot be used in disciplinary cases, the effect would be huge.
It would not be only about Vovk. It would also affect other former OASK judges and about 50 judges who were recorded taking bribes. Many of them were dismissed through disciplinary proceedings before any final criminal verdicts existed. If wiretap materials are excluded, this would effectively mean invalidating those dismissals, with a real chance that judges return to the bench.
That is why real progress requires renewal at the top, including the Supreme Court: integrity checks and selection of new judges with meaningful participation of independent experts nominated by international partners. This approach is explicitly prescribed in the EU’s Chapter 23 benchmarks for Ukraine.
Where international experts had a decisive role in selecting judges for a newly created anti-corruption court, it showed great results and delivered one of the most credible judicial selection outcomes.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time again, Anton.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
Khrystyna Drahomaretska is a 28-year-old Ukrainian animal rescuer and architect who left her profession after Russia’s full-scale invasion. She works as a stray-animal catcher and evacuates pets from combat areas, operating amid shelling and mines. In Toretsk, three guided aerial bombs detonated near her; in Vovchansk, she suffered shrapnel wounds during mortar fire while rescuing animals. She founded the Under the Sun shelter in Ukraine’s Odesa region, caring for 250 dogs, many of whom were treated, socialized, sterilized, vaccinated, and rehomed; about 70 percent are adopted abroad. She is UWARF’s country manager and partners with 12 Vartovykh, Animal Rescue Kharkiv, and UAnimals.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks why animal rescue, not another profession, during a long war. Khrystyna Drahomaretska says architecture evaporated after the invasion, so she stayed near family, tried to enlist, and chose animals as her frontline. She recounts early runs taking dogs to Europe for adoption, then returning with food for Kyiv-area towns just liberated, where mines and booby traps lingered. Seeing chained, starving animals drove her to build a shelter in Podilsk and expand rescue coverage. She credits Daniel “Dan” Fine with supporting sterilization at scale, then joined 12 Guards for evacuation missions, including Vovchansk, where shrapnel injured her.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the reasons for entering into animal rescue rather than another profession, particularly during a long war?
Khrystyna Drahomaretska: Before the war, I worked as an architect, but at the beginning, no one needed it. Before the war, I volunteered. I rescued them, but not when the full-scale invasion began. No one needed architecture, and everyone was looking for a way to survive or figure out what to do. Before the war, I had a dream of building skyscrapers somewhere in Canada or England, or, for example, in the Emirates.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, I received many offers from abroad. They offered me a place to work and an apartment to live in. Many different companies from outside Ukraine made proposals to me.
However, I wanted it before, but when I finally received many offers, I decided that I needed to stay in the country. Now I live in Podilsk, and my parents live there too. It is far from the front line, near the Moldova border, but no one knows what will happen next week. So I decided not to leave my parents and my family, and I cannot live abroad. It is not my way to run away. Usually, I prefer to fight. I thought it would be an important battle in my life.
At first, I decided to volunteer for the army. We made different nets. Everyone worked together on one mission—to help the army. I also wanted to join the army, but they told me no. They had many men at the time, and there were not enough weapons, so it did not make sense to take more people into the army.
So I decided to find my own way. At that time, I already had many dogs, and I decided to focus on the dogs I had rescued before. These dogs were in my friend’s shelter. We created the shelter together, but it was her shelter.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, many people in Europe were ready to take dogs from Ukraine. So we decided to take the dogs, put them in the car, and make documents for them. At that time, the requirements were simpler than they are now.
We made the documents, put them in the car, and went to Europe. We found families for these dogs there. On the way back, we asked ourselves why we were returning empty. There was a lot of dry food at the border, so we started looking for a way to bring food back to Ukraine.
In Ukraine, we found a bus. In Europe, we found a warehouse with dry food and began delivering it to Ukraine. It was March when areas around Kyiv were being liberated after the occupation. We took all this food and went to places around Kyiv—Horenka, Hostomel, and Bucha. The Russians had just left these places, and there were mines and unexploded ordnance. It was very dangerous.
If I had known how many mines and booby traps there could be, I would have been more careful, but at the time, it was new. We were really scared because it was dangerous. Forests could be mined, and houses could be mined, and we heard many stories that when the Russians left these places, they left explosive devices hidden in objects, including toys and household items, for example, in washing machines.
For example, when you try to open the gate to go into your yard, or when you try to open your car, there could be explosive devices. We heard about this, and we were really scared.
But we took the food and delivered it to Kyiv and nearby areas. The people who gave us this food needed a report, so we filmed everything we saw and how we fed the stray dogs. There were dogs in horrific condition. For example, now, when Russian forces attack a place like Dushkivka or try to occupy it, we usually have some time to evacuate animals or at least create a place where they can go. But at that time, people just left their dogs. They did not expect the invasion. They left them in kennels, on chains. Many dogs died because they had no food. They were like skeletons.
You may have heard about the shelter in Borodianka. There were around 300 dogs there. The owner of the shelter left them, and many of the dogs died. When we came, we brought food, but we saw that all these dogs needed medical care and needed to be relocated. So we started evacuating the dogs, and we needed a place to keep them. That is how I started to create my own shelter in Podilsk, in another region.
I did not have money. I started with $1,000 in my pocket. Nothing more. If you see it now, it is different. It has grown. Now, of course, we have more support, more workers, and we continue to grow. But if someone told me that I had to go through this entire path again, I would say no.
We evacuate as many animals as possible and as quickly as possible. We try different methods. Mostly, we send them to Europe because it is safer and people are generally more reliable there, though sometimes we meet people who are not.
We have a team. We have a photographer and a manager. We have a builder who is always building something. We are always trying to find money for his work. We never stop. He is always building and improving. We cannot afford to hire a full construction team to finish everything in two months, as we do not have those resources. Instead, we buy materials and pay this builder. It is a good way for us to grow. It is not fast, but we grow.
We also have a woman who is a dog trainer. She does not have time for full training, but she walks the dogs and teaches them to walk on a leash before we send them to their new families. We also have another man who does everything. He can assist the veterinarian during surgery and also build, for example, a dog kennel.
In our city, we also have a rescue team. For example, if we receive a call that someone has thrown away puppies or that a dog has been hit by a car, our team goes to the scene, takes the animal to the veterinarian, and treats it. We work not only in our city but across the entire region, because the whole region calls us.
We decided to bring the dogs to one place, to a shelter, and that is how we started the shelter. Then I met Dan Fine. At that time, he was raising significant funds for Ukraine and seeking ways to help. Before that, he had bought food, but he said we needed something more than just food. We explained that we needed sterilization. If you feed one dog today, in half a year, you will feed six dogs, because she will give birth to puppies, and the number will keep increasing. So we asked him to support a sterilization program.
He created the sterilization program, and with his support, we sterilized around 8,000 dogs over two years. Most of these sterilizations took place near the front line, including areas close to formerly occupied territories, as well as the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions.
When the program ended due to declining donations, I met another team, 12 Guards. They had been working since the beginning of the war, mostly helping people, but later they shifted their focus to helping dogs. That is how we met, and together with Lala, we decided to go to the front line to evacuate dogs. Before that, this work had been done by Animal Rescue Kharkiv.
When Russian forces attempted to occupy Vovchansk, we began our first mission focused not only on sterilization but also on evacuation. It was our first evacuation mission. In Vovchansk, I was injured by a Russian missile. I was hit by shrapnel. It was very difficult to work during the day, so we decided to go at night. They saw us with a drone and tried to kill us. They could see that we were moving with dogs. I think they knew that soldiers would not be evacuating dogs, that we were volunteers, but they did not care. They sent a missile. The first explosion sent shrapnel through my leg and caused severe injury.
Then they sent the drone again and watched to see if we were still alive. When they saw that we were moving, they attacked us again. I thought that it would be my last day. But they missed. My team helped me, and we ran to our car. We drove out of Vovchansk, but on the road we did not use headlights. There was debris from a rocket on the road. The driver saw it, but it was already too late. He swerved to the left, and we had a car accident.
The car rolled over. It was very strong—the car ended up on its roof. We had a serious accident. The guys carried me to what we call a blindage, a dugout shelter in the ground used for protection. They put me there with the dogs and went to look for help because I needed to go to the hospital. I was bleeding.
At that time, there was a Russian volunteer unit fighting on Ukraine’s side. The guys stopped them and asked for help. So one Russian was trying to kill me, and another Russian was helping me. He transported me to a vehicle where Ukrainian medics treated me and then took me to the hospital.
Jacobsen: Do we have any estimates of the number of shelters in Ukraine now? Do we have accurate estimates of the number of stray dogs and cats? If so, where do these numbers come from?
Drahomaretska: No, it is impossible to know exactly how many dogs are in shelters. I know that the largest shelter has around 3,500 dogs and about 500 cats. That is a very large shelter. There are also shelters with around 1,500 dogs, but most have closer to 500.
We do not have many officially registered shelters. Most of them are unofficial. Some are run by individuals who keep many dogs in poor conditions. As for the number of stray dogs, I cannot give you a figure. I do not have accurate data.
That is why I started working with 12 Guards, and we have continued our work until now. We are still carrying out evacuations.
Jacobsen: Mr. Daniel “Dan” Fine: What condition did he have, and what happened?
Drahomaretska: When we first worked together, he did not know that he had cancer. He found out about a year and a half ago. He had felt very unwell during several missions. After returning to Canada, he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with cancer.
When he came to Ukraine, many foreigners who arrived did not want to do difficult work. They wanted dramatic photos—rescuing dogs with explosions in the background. They wanted stories to show when they returned home. But Dan did everything. He cleaned kennels, carried cages, and walked the dogs. No one wants to walk dogs because it doesn’t make a good impression. He was someone who truly came to help.
Jacobsen: What would you consider his legacy after his death?
Drahomaretska: For me, he did a lot—for me personally, for the dogs, and for Ukrainians. First, he helped thousands of dogs. We sterilized around 8,000 dogs. Imagine that about 7,000 of them were females. A female dog can give birth twice a year, and each time she can have around five puppies. So imagine how many puppies were never born because of this program. That is a huge impact.
He also supported the shelter continuously. Because of his support and his organization, the shelter grew. He created a documentary film to show the world the work we are doing here, the problems animals face, and how we try to solve them. It was also about people—how some people, even during war, care about stray dogs and cats and not only about themselves.
Jacobsen: When you receive animals, what are the most common conditions? Is it malnutrition, missing limbs, or psychological trauma? What are animals most commonly suffering from in this war?
Drahomaretska: We have many dogs injured by shrapnel. Some are very thin. Most dogs—maybe 99 percent—have trauma similar to post-traumatic stress. They are afraid of loud sounds because of explosions.
The place where our shelter is located is far from the front line, so there are not many explosions there. Sometimes, when Russian forces attack the electricity system, you can hear distant explosions, but it is far from heavy bombing. The dogs need a calm place.
In the areas where we evacuate animals, there aren’t many extremely emaciated dogs because even people who stay without enough food still try to feed their animals. But in places like Kostiantynivka, the situation is much worse. There is often no food, and volunteers cannot safely go there because there are many Russian drones. To drive there, you would need people in the pickup truck who can shoot down drones. Even evacuation vehicles like the White Angel police units often cannot go there because it is too dangerous. Sometimes they cannot even evacuate people.
Jacobsen: What else?
Drahomaretska: After Dan died, he had agreed with another organization, Greater Good Charities. This organization supports us now and believes in our work. They see what we are doing and how many animals we adopt. For example, at least 20 dogs leave our shelter each month to go to families. For a Ukrainian shelter, that is a large number, because many shelters keep dogs permanently. It becomes like a large animal enclosure. What we do is the result of our team’s serious work.
Jacobsen: When animals become stray, e.g., dogs, cats, horses, pigs, and cattle, they can become feral. Dogs may attack cats. Pigs may scavenge human remains. What issues arise in war that people do not often discuss openly but are important to understand?
Drahomaretska: It is difficult to talk about, but our soldiers are very kind to animals. When they return from red zones, from active battle areas where we cannot go, they often bring back dogs and cats they have rescued. But sometimes they also have to kill animals. In some cases, stray dogs can spread rabies. In other cases, dogs gather around soldiers because they are looking for food. Russian drones can detect people when dogs gather in one place. Soldiers try to hide, but dogs can reveal their positions. In such situations, they sometimes have to kill the animals. It is about survival—strategic survival in war. They also slaughter pigs or livestock for food when necessary. These are survival decisions.
Another problem is abandonment. I do not know how it would be in other countries if war came there. In Ukraine, some people keep dogs on chains as guard animals. Not everyone, but some. Sometimes we arrive at a destroyed or evacuated house and find a dog still chained. We evacuate the dog. Later, an owner may contact us and ask why we took the dog, saying the dog was protecting the house. We ask where they are living now. They say they left because it was too dangerous. We ask why they left the dog behind. They say it was for protection. We ask who was feeding the dog. Sometimes they do not know. They ask us to return the dog to the dangerous area. It is difficult to understand this mindset.
Jacobsen: These details matter. War changes priorities. Even if people are not under immediate fire, they may be traumatized or hungry. Rational decision-making shifts. When it is minus 19 degrees Celsius, with no heating and no electricity, people focus on survival—finding warmth, food, and safety. Different considerations take priority. Preferably, food from Lviv Croissant.
Drahomaretska: They are good.
Jacobsen: Are there stories of people who have died while rescuing animals?
Drahomaretska: Yes. One volunteer died about two months ago. His name was Sviatoslav. He carried out many animal evacuations, but during his last mission, he was evacuating people. He was with Bohdan. A drone attacked their vehicle. The others survived, but he was killed.
Jacobsen: I interviewed Dr. Ioan Răzvan Șuteu. He is a Romanian veterinarian who rescues, treats, and rehomes injured animals affected by the war. He is currently in Romania. Animal rescue is humanitarian work. It is not political. When people think of humanitarian evacuation, they often imagine wounded soldiers or civilians being airlifted. This is different. It is about a starving dog, an injured animal, and choosing to help.
Drahomaretska: People who work in this field here, it is completely different. In other countries, for example, in Germany, animal protection organizations fight with paperwork. They do not work in war zones. They do not work in mined fields. They care about animals, but they do not know what this kind of work is like. It is very different.
Jacobsen: I used to work at a horse farm. People run ranches here. My immediate question was: how do you run a horse farm with bombs and air raid alarms? Horses are easily spooked. Even small noises can cause them to panic. Logistically, I have many questions. Even in normal conditions, managing horses is complex. I remember working on a farm with an indoor arena under a large structure. After heavy snow followed by warm weather, the snow would melt at the base and slide off suddenly. That noise alone could frighten the horses. That was just because of the weather. So how do you manage when there are ballistic missiles or air raid alarms? I am very curious about that.
Drahomaretska: I once had a situation in a village where we evacuated a horse. During that evacuation, the horse broke my finger. I went to the hospital afterward. Later, we found the owner. The owner returned the horse to the same dangerous place we had evacuated it from and left it there again.
Jacobsen: You broke your finger for nothing. During that time, you could have been rescuing other animals. It was not only about that one horse. Are there more men or more women in animal rescue?
Drahomaretska: Mostly women.
Jacobsen: Many men of working age are at the front line, have left the country, or have been killed. So women are taking on many roles, including animal rescue. Difficulties likely depend on where you are. Living in a village in western Ukraine is different from living in a city in the east. Those factors matter. Are you in a city or a village? Are you in the east or the west? That changes the level of stress. Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Khrystyna.
Drahomaretska: Thank you very much for your time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
Saba Yamani is a Kyiv-based dental professional who was born in Saudi Arabia to a Saudi father and Syrian mother. She first arrived in Ukraine at age three after her father married a Ukrainian woman, whom she considers her mother. Raised in Kyiv, Yamani was baptized in the Orthodox Church and later came out as LGBTQ+. During the full-scale invasion she sought protection from Ukraine’s State Migration Service after facing pressure to leave and risk of deportation. She currently works at a private dental clinic and is preparing for the Ukrainian citizenship exam in May.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Saba Yamani, a Kyiv-raised LGBTQ+ woman born in Saudi Arabia, about living between two religious cultures. Yamani describes hiding her sexuality in Saudi Arabia, relying on online friends for support, and feeling socially policed through dress codes, male-guardian expectations, and anxiety about early marriage. In Ukraine, she recalls greater childhood freedom, mixed acceptance, and a clearer sense of personal possibility. She explains how family narratives and religious justifications shaped gender roles and fear, and how repeated moves intensified an enduring sense of precarious identity and control over her future. She is pursuing Ukrainian citizenship after threats.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You are sitting between two very different religious and political environments: Saudi Arabia, an Islamic state governed by a hereditary monarchy, and Ukraine, where Eastern Orthodox Christianity is historically dominant but where there is no state religion. Ukraine is religiously majority Christian, yet it is constitutionally secular, and levels of active religious observance are generally lower than in Saudi Arabia. From your experience, how do people interpret their faith in Saudi Arabia? How do they interpret it in Ukraine? Does that influence how they view gay and transgender people?
Saba Yamani: It is two different stories because I never came out in Saudi Arabia. I did come out to my father. We have a complex relationship. He is a strict Muslim Arab man. At first, he tried to be supportive. He accepted it for a few days, then told me he had changed his mind.
I was never openly gay in Saudi Arabia. You cannot openly express that. I wore an abaya and dressed modestly, as is socially expected for girls and women there. I have dressed that way since I was nine. I knew it would be problematic to express my sexuality publicly. I never spoke about it at school or at home. I lived mostly online, and that is where I found support.
Jacobsen: Where online did you find support, and what was the nature of that support?
Yamani: I lived one year in Ukraine and one year in Saudi Arabia. We moved back and forth many times because my family tried to live together and then separated again. Each year when I returned to Saudi Arabia, I kept in touch with my Ukrainian friends online. I never developed close friendships in Saudi Arabia. I often felt like an outsider. Some Arabic classmates saw me as Ukrainian and treated me as different. At the same time, in Ukraine I was sometimes seen as different because of my background.
Jacobsen: That in-between world where you do not feel accepted by either side.
Yamani: Yes. I rarely felt fully accepted as “one of us” anywhere. The only time I felt a sense of belonging was with some Black students at the medical university, who commented on my hair and said, “You are one of us.” That was the only time I felt clearly included.
Jacobsen: Was that acceptance unconditional or conditional? You were accepted by that community. Were there conditions, or was it unconditional?
Yamani: It seemed based mostly on my appearance, especially my hair. That is a narrow basis for acceptance. I had not had close Black friends before, so I cannot fully assess how deep that acceptance was.
Jacobsen: In terms of covering, how would you describe religious doctrine and social rules for women as they enter adolescence?
Yamani: In many conservative interpretations of Islamic practice, girls are expected to begin dressing modestly around puberty, which is often associated with the onset of menstruation. In practice, however, families may introduce modest dress earlier for cultural or religious reasons. In my case, I began covering several years before menstruation. Socially, covering can be interpreted as a sign that a girl is becoming a young woman, which in conservative contexts may also relate to ideas about marriageability. I began covering at nine. I began menstruating at thirteen.
I could not understand it. I knew the rule. I knew what it was supposed to represent, but I could not comprehend that my father might be ready to give me up for marriage at the age of nine. He even referred to the Qur’an. He said that the Prophet Muhammad married Aisha when she was young. He used that as a way of normalizing the idea and expected me to accept it.
Jacobsen: Is that a common interpretation in families there? In Saudi Arabia, is early marriage seen as normal in many families?
Yamani: I believe so. You hear many stories of Muslim girls getting married and becoming pregnant at a very young age. That context explains a lot.
Jacobsen: What was the internal experience for you?
Yamani: It felt like waiting for something terrible to happen. During the year I lived there, I felt it could happen at any time. Each year when I returned to Ukraine, it felt like an escape. A year in Ukraine was where I lived. A year in Saudi Arabia was where I existed and waited. I had two completely different lives.
Jacobsen: Are either of your parents Ukrainian?
Yamani: No. My father is from Saudi Arabia. I was born there. My biological mother is from Syria, but I never met her.
Jacobsen: Under what circumstances did you never meet her?
Yamani: My father divorced her shortly after I was born. For the first few years of my life, I lived with my aunt. He left me with his sister because he travels frequently for work at the airport. Later, he met a Ukrainian woman and married her. She is my stepmother, but I call her my mother because I have known her my whole life. I never met my biological mother.
Jacobsen: Do you want to meet your biological mother?
Yamani: No. I do not think so. It does not seem logical. She comes from a world I tried to escape. I believe she would not accept me, especially regarding religion and sexuality. I feel it would cause pain for both of us. I also do not have any personal connection to her. I do not feel anything.
Jacobsen: Which cities did you live in in Ukraine? What was your impression of the culture itself, not in comparison to Saudi Arabia?
Yamani: As a child in Ukraine, it was fun because there was so much freedom. In Saudi Arabia, a girl cannot leave the house alone without a male guardian. It could even be my younger brother. That felt strange to me. He was younger, yet he had more authority in that situation. I was not allowed to play outside freely, especially if boys were around.
Any contact with a boy who is not a close blood relative can be viewed suspiciously. Socially, it is considered inappropriate. I once greeted a man I believed was my uncle by shaking his hand. My father became angry because he was not a close blood relative, and under Islamic law, marriage between certain cousins is permitted. That meant physical contact was not considered acceptable.
In Ukraine, each year I returned, I played outside with boys and it was simply friendly. I did not feel sexualized. When my father was not present, my grandmother allowed me to go outside. She knew the social expectations but wanted me to experience some freedom. She did not tell others where I was or who I was with.
Jacobsen: More broadly, how do you think Saudi Arabia views women and girls? And how does Ukraine view women and girls in your lifetime?
Yamani: In Saudi Arabia, it often feels as though a girl is born to become someone’s wife and someone’s mother. The expectation is that you will marry, stay at home, and focus on family. Education for girls exists, but early marriage can interrupt it. Some girls marry during their final years of secondary school.
In Ukraine, you are seen as a person first. As a child, you are allowed to have fun and imagine a future. There are expectations, but they do not feel predetermined in the same way.
There were structural differences as well. Saudi Arabia has twelve years of schooling, while Ukraine traditionally had eleven grades. When I completed a year in Ukraine and then returned to Saudi Arabia, I often had to repeat material. It felt as though time was moving more slowly there. I felt stuck.
Jacobsen: How do women and girls see their horizons in those contexts? In Ukraine, where you are treated as a person with possibilities, versus in Saudi Arabia, where you felt you were waiting for something predetermined?
Yamani: In Saudi Arabia, you do not feel in control of your own future. You feel that your life is already planned. Even when I was in Ukraine, I feared that it could be taken away from me at any moment. There was always a sense of uncertainty and lack of control.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Saba.
Image Credit: Sama Yamani.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Alex Craiu is a Romanian war correspondent based in Ukraine, reporting from the frontline and rear areas for international audiences. Trained in documentary and cinematography production, he studied in the United Kingdom and in California, United States. He works as an independent, freelance journalist and has produced short-form video reporting for social platforms as well as written analysis. In 2017, he completed an internship with the BBC in London, then expanded his field reporting during Russia’s full-scale invasion. Craiu has contributed to outlets including Veridica and In-Sight Publishing, focusing on civilian life, information warfare, battlefield realities, and humanitarian consequences under fire.
In this exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks Alex Craiu to assess the trends in Russia’s war on Ukraine for 2025. Craiu describes intensified missile and drone strikes, repeated attacks on energy infrastructure, and widening harm to civilians, alongside allegations of serious international-law violations. He notes that prolonged war also raises internal risks—detention abuses, coercive mobilization practices, and corruption—requiring oversight. On the battlefield, he stresses that pressure on key nodes matters more than raw kilometres, highlighting the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad axis and disputed Russian claims about Kupiansk. He closes with a nuanced view of morale: resilient, but strained, with real war fatigue through winter blackouts.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What has been the trend in 2025 regarding Russian aggression against Ukraine? In addition, are there any concerning internal issues within Ukraine related to potential human rights abuses?
Alex Craiu: In 2025—especially into late 2025 and the winter period—Russia has continued and, in several phases, intensified large-scale missile and drone strikes across Ukraine. These strikes have repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure, along with logistics, municipal, and other civilian facilities, contributing to widespread hardship during cold-weather periods. Russia has been accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law, including unlawful attacks affecting civilians and civilian objects.
Regarding internal risks within Ukraine, any prolonged, high-intensity war increases the risk of rights abuses, including concerns related to detention practices, mobilization procedures, and corruption-linked coercion. These issues require sustained domestic oversight, judicial accountability, and continued international monitoring.
Jacobsen: How much territory has been taken in 2025? Along the 1,300-kilometre front line, how many kilometres have been gained?
Craiu: It is difficult to provide a precise figure in terms of kilometres gained without specifying the exact time frame and mapping methodology. Operationally, what has mattered more than raw territorial measurement is the pressure applied to key defensive nodes.
In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces have maintained sustained pressure in the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad axis, attempting to stretch or encircle Ukrainian defensive lines. However, there has been no confirmed, full and stable capture of these cities.
There have also been instances in which Russian officials have claimed control over cities such as Kupyansk. These claims have been publicly disputed and contradicted by visual and open-source evidence. Such assertions appear intended to project momentum and readiness for continued operations.
Jacobsen: Have any political objectives of the Russian Federation been achieved?
Craiu: It is widely assessed that Russia has failed to achieve its primary political objectives. The initial aims—such as rapidly toppling the Ukrainian government, preventing Ukraine’s westward integration, and reshaping its geopolitical orientation—were not realized. Instead, Ukraine consolidated its national identity and strengthened its ties with the European Union and NATO.
Diplomatically, Russia has faced sustained isolation from much of the Western world and remains subject to extensive sanctions. While Russia has maintained or deepened relations with certain non-Western states, its broader global standing has been significantly constrained.
The narrative that the invasion was necessary to protect Russian-speaking populations has also had the opposite effect. Since 2022, Ukrainian civic identity has further consolidated, including among many Russian-speaking Ukrainians.
Claims that the war constitutes defensive action against hostile democratic regimes have not been broadly accepted internationally. Overall, Russia’s political objectives have largely not been met, and in several respects the outcome has run counter to its initial goals.
Jacobsen: What about Ukrainian morale? How are Ukrainians handling consistent bombardment, power shortages, power outages, increased attacks on civilians, and documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war and detainees? How is morale in 2025 amid expanded attacks affecting a broader segment of the population beyond military targets?
Craiu: Ukrainian morale has fluctuated over time but has remained resilient despite prolonged strain. Continuous missile and drone attacks, energy disruptions, and civilian casualties have created fatigue and psychological pressure. Power outages during winter periods and repeated attacks on infrastructure have imposed cumulative hardship.
At the same time, Ukrainian society has demonstrated sustained mobilization, including volunteer networks, civil defence adaptation, and local resilience measures. Public opinion surveys conducted since 2022 have generally shown continued support for resistance, though concerns about duration, economic cost, and human toll have increased.
Morale in 2025 reflects a combination of exhaustion and determination. The population is under significant stress, but broad support for sovereignty and territorial integrity remains a defining factor.
I would reference an opinion article published in Ukrainian media toward the end of 2025, arguing that Ukrainians should stop pretending they are fine. The argument suggested that Ukrainians have been strong, have compelled themselves to remain strong, and have presented a narrative of resilience to the outside world. Part of this presentation concerns wartime messaging—Ukraine has consistently emphasized its readiness to resist and its refusal to surrender to Russian occupation.
Psychologically, however, the situation is more complex. Therapists and mental health professionals report an increase in patients seeking support. While resilience remains visible, it is not as universal as often portrayed. Interviews with civilians following attacks may project normality, and morale remains broadly intact, but it fluctuates with each new escalation.
This winter has brought repeated blackouts and heating disruptions in many residential buildings. Ukrainians are adapting not only to war but also to severe seasonal hardship. Public sentiment today differs from that of last summer. War fatigue is real. Nevertheless, there is no clear indication that exhaustion has translated into a willingness to accept any settlement regardless of terms.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Alex.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Agi Bar-Sela, born in 1931 in Budapest, immigrated to Israel in 1949 with a Zionist youth group after her grandfather pressed her family to flee communist Hungary. Sent first to a kibbutz, she soon chose urban life, using Hungarian and fluent German to work among German Jewish “Jekkes,” then learning Hebrew and leaning on Yiddish for belonging. She married young, raised three sons, and endured early-state austerity: scarce food and crowded multigenerational flats. Her English later opened careers at El Al and travel agencies, while her Hungarian-Jewish cooking anchored home and community. She champions language study as the surest ladder.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Agi Bar-Sela about arriving in Israel in 1949 from Budapest, beginning on a kibbutz and then shifting to city life. Agi Bar-Sela recalls early austerity—little food, few choices, and crowded flats shared with in-laws, mother, and grandmother—while stressing youth as a survival asset. She frames language as social capital: German opened medical work among “Jekkes,” Yiddish fostered belonging, and English enabled later careers at El Al and travel agencies. Motherhood, she says, reordered priorities, and she recalls UN debates, insisting English is today’s key. They end with politics, antisemitism, and cooking joy.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We will start from the top. When you were much younger and first came to Israel, how did Israelis tend to see themselves? How did you see the culture when it was still in its early stages of development?
Agi Bar-Sela: First of all, I came in 1949. I was born in 1931, so I was about 17. I came with a Zionist group because I was a Zionist. My grandfather, who was very devoted to Zionism, told my mother that I had to be sent to Palestine and not remain in a communist country. In 1949, the country I was in was already under communist rule. My grandfather knew people and had information that we did not. He strongly wanted me to leave.
My mother said we would decide. My father, of course, was lost in the Shoah. I told my mother that I could get a place to go to Israel, to Palestine, Israel. She said we would ask my grandfather, who was my father’s father.
He said he would ask his Zionist friends what they thought. The next day, he called my mother and said, “They said not tomorrow—yesterday. The child should leave this country.” So I had all the help I could have. I arrived with a large group and went to a kibbutz in Israel in 1949.
That was the first part. After that, you grow up. You decide what you will do, how you will do it, and with whom—friends, boyfriends, everything. But that was only the beginning. What interests you most—my age?
Jacobsen: It is the length of perspective. You have seen an arc of development in Israeli society that is valuable to me—the long cultural development of Israel.
Bar-Sela: Yes. Then, I saw that the kibbutz was not for me. I had some addresses—from my mother and grandfather—of people who were already in Israel. I also found old friends, and they helped me. That is how I got into business.
Languages helped me, though it wasn’t easy at the time in that country because people spoke different languages. Many people spoke English. Many German Jews spoke German. Many others spoke other languages, and often people did not understand one another.
When I decided to leave the kibbutz, I got a job in the medical business. The people there were Jekkes—German Jews—so my German helped me. I had grown up speaking German from a very early age, so I was fluent.
At that time, people also did not like English very much. So I had languages that many people did not want to speak. I decided that, given the situation, I would soften my Hochdeutsch and make it closer to Yiddish. I could do that, and I had help. When I started speaking Yiddish, I felt at home. Everything was fine then. That is the story so far.
Of course, you had to work if you wanted to. I fell in love with my husband. I was very young when I got married—not a little girl, but quite young. So I was not alone for very long.
We were new immigrants, which is never easy. We lived together in a two-room flat with my father-in-law, mother-in-law, my husband, and me. Very quickly, we had our first child.
The moment you have a child, your work changes, your thinking changes—everything changes. That was the beginning.
We were a well-known Zionist family. My father-in-law was deeply involved in Hungarian Zionism and served more than once in leadership roles. Life was not so different from others in that sense. Being young helped. It is easier when you are a teenager and do not yet carry many responsibilities. Still, once you have a child, everything shifts.
Jacobsen: When you had your first child, you said it changed everything. How did it change your thinking and your habits of life—personally and professionally?
Bar-Sela: The first thing I wanted in Israel was to have a child. We were all after the Shoah. My husband had lost his brother, his aunts, uncles, and cousins. So had we. The few people who remained were very close in thought and in the things we did.
We lived in a very poor place, but everyone around us was also poor. Every oleh—every immigrant—was poor. You arrived with nothing. Slowly, things began to improve.
I had my first child in 1951, which means I had just turned 20 when my first son was born. That was the best thing I could have done. Nothing made me happier. I have three sons—unfortunately, not more.
After that, we began working steadily. My husband was an engineer, which helped. He was connected with the army and the pilots, though he was not a pilot himself. Life was good. We had many friends—more than I can count—all from Hungary, most of them not speaking other languages.
I was the only one who spoke Hungarian and also other languages. Even now, I can learn a new language if I decide to. At that time, many of the others did not know how to buy shoes or even bread.
I had already learned Hebrew, which was a very big achievement. Slowly, everything improved. At first, it was difficult—there was little food, which was very complicated. Around 1950, when I was about 20, there was almost no food in Israel
You did not say, “I eat this” or “I do not eat that.” You ate what was available. That was one of the major problems. Not every oleh—every immigrant—was young. There were many older people, and for them it was an even bigger challenge. It took several years for the country to become capable of regularly importing goods, and then growth began.
Jacobsen: What about the kibbutz was unappealing to you?
Bar-Sela: First of all, the Sochnut—the Jewish Agency—sent the children from Budapest to a kibbutz that was not suitable for us. It was in a very hot and difficult area. Still, I managed. I was actually happy there. I had work to do, and that was fine.
At the same time, I was thinking about what I would do with my life. A young person of 17 or 18 is not foolish. Young people can do many things that older people do not imagine they can. Being young is not a disadvantage.
I had many friends everywhere. Later, we left that place and moved here together with my father-in-law and mother-in-law. Later, my mother and grandmother joined us. At one point, eight people were living in our flat: my father-in-law, mother-in-law, my mother, my grandmother, my husband, and my three boys. It was not easy, but we wanted to manage, and we did. I never considered leaving Israel. I would never have done that.
Languages were a great gift for me. People who did not have languages the way I did were not in the same position. Not then, and not even today. I could enter many places and understand what others could not. Language is a dramatic factor. Can you learn a language, or can’t you? Others had different difficulties, of course. It was not easy then, and it is not easy even today to make a living. But if you truly wanted to, you could. That was the difference.
Jacobsen: What is your favourite language?
Bar-Sela: That is a difficult question. May I give more than one?
Jacobsen: Of course.
Bar-Sela: Then I would easily give at least three or four. I was born into a family that was not ordinary—financially or otherwise. My father loved languages. My first nanny was Swedish; she spoke German and only German. Later, she left, and my father hired another nanny from London. She spoke English and did not know a word of German, and I did not know a word of English at that time.
The nanny was very clever. She decided that I could sing in English. If I could sing in English, then she could teach meEnglish. So when I was four years old, we were already singing in English. Later, regarding languages, I remained passionate about them. I still love languages. Everyone should speak English. That may sound extreme, but English has become essential.
Jacobsen: In what sense?
Bar-Sela: As a working language—a language you can use anywhere in the world. There is no question about it.
Later, when I already had three boys, I worked with El Al. At that time, they were looking for people who spoke English, not necessarily Hebrew. You cannot work in an international airline and speak only German. English was necessary.
My English opened professional doors for me. There is no doubt about that. If you ask me, every person should know at least one additional language. But English should come first, or immediately after one’s mother tongue. There is no question about it.
I speak German, Hungarian, and English very well, of course. I also understand other languages—French, for example—even if I do not speak them fluently. I believe languages are the most important thing a person can know. What do you think?
Jacobsen: I think that is generally reasonable.
Bar-Sela: Yes. People in Canada or America have an easier life in that sense, because they already speak English. That is not a problem for them.
I am not someone who sees a problem and gives up. If I had to solve something, I would solve it, or someone would help me. Working with El Al was very demanding—days and nights—but the moment you said you worked for El Al, doors opened. They still do. Working for an airline carries respect.
Later, I left the airline because travel agencies wanted me. They needed someone who spoke languages. That is why I say language is the first thing—any language. If you already speak English, you do not feel that difficulty in the same way.
Being born in a country where English is the main language is a great advantage. For me, learning English as a child was possible because my father believed strongly in languages, and our family could afford tutors. One of the best things I ever did was to become good at languages. Not every language, of course—but three or four is not bad.
Jacobsen: I used to speak French, but I do not anymore.
Bar-Sela: If you were interested, could you regain it?
Jacobsen: Probably.
Bar-Sela: I think so. Languages stay somewhere in the mind. I remember that after the Second World War, when the United Nations was being organized, there were discussions about which language should serve as the main working language. As I remember the story, some argued for Spanish because so many people worldwide speak it, especially across Latin America. But the Americans insisted that English be used. That is how English became the dominant working language.
Of course, you have to know English. It is almost impossible without it. With my boys, besides encouraging music—which was more than a hobby—I was very strict about languages. I did not allow them to neglect English. They learned it well.
I can only hope the same for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Since we do not speak English together, I sometimes ask them how good their English is. They tell me it is very good. That is important. You should do everything as well as you can.
When I left El Al, I was very happy. Every travel agency wanted me to work with them as long as I wished to continue. I worked in a travel agency, which was a wonderful job. Languages were the key.
You speak only English, so you do not feel the difference. I see friends from Hungary now—you should hear their English. It is very poor. They speak Hungarian well, but their Hebrew is not very strong either. Without English, you lose opportunities. That is what I believe.
My boys served in the army, of course, and they speak English well. I am still trying with the younger grandchildren—not yet successfully—to joke or sing in English with them. It is the main language.
Jacobsen: In most of Canada, English is the main language. About one in five Canadians speaks French.
Bar-Sela: It is a great advantage to come from a country where English is the first language. You can speak with everyone. They may not speak with you, but you can speak with them. That is powerful.
You asked about my work. I worked only with El Al and then with travel agencies. Both were good places to work. El Al was difficult because of the hours, days, and nights. No husband enjoys waiting until three or four in the morning for his wife to return home. So I moved to a travel agency, where I could work during the day. Because of my languages, the transition was easy.
I have three sons. One son has three children, and the other has three to six grandchildren altogether. Some of them now have children of their own. It is wonderful to have all of them, young and older alike. Language remains a good thing.
Jacobsen: In terms of the larger themes of Israeli cultural development, how have you seen it change over time?
Bar-Sela: I do not think we are behind any country. That is my view. Because I understand almost every language spoken in this country—except Russian, unfortunately—I do not feel barriers when speaking with people. I do not have difficulty talking with anyone.
But English is essential. People do not need German or French. Why would they? English is the language they truly need.
A person coming from any part of the world should speak English and their own language. That is enough. Today, I do not believe a person can work without English. Nothing is as important as English. If I were living in South America, I might think differently. But from my perspective, English is the main language. I do not expect someone like Donald Trump to speak with me, but if he did, I would do my best to speak with him.
Jacobsen: What is your opinion of the current global political situation?
Bar-Sela: That is a difficult question. We follow two main sources. First, my family and I read the newspapers every day. Second, we listen to television news, as most people in Israel do. Through television, you hear certain narratives.
At the moment, I do not think it is easy to assess the situation for Israel. I was shocked by how openly antisemitism has appeared. Shocked. Antisemitism in France, Switzerland, Austria—yes. I do not know about Italy, but I assume it exists there as well.
We do not fully understand the current situation regarding the United States and other countries. It will be good for us.
Antisemitism exists and, sadly, may always exist. I am angry about it. But beyond that, I think we are seeing an increase in small and medium-sized wars around the world. That makes the world more dangerous for everyone, with all the tragedies that follow. Antisemitism is there, and it will always be there. And fuck them all. That’s not very nice to say fuck, but I don’t care. I think we’re seeing an increase in small and medium wars.
That is a major global factor. The world becomes more dangerous when there are more wars and all the tragedies that follow.
Jacobsen: How would you describe Israeli cuisine?
Bar-Sela: The best you can imagine.
Jacobsen: Give me the list, then. What do you cook? Where do you like to eat—at home, at restaurants, at the beach?
Bar-Sela: Not restaurants. I am a woman living alone.
Jacobsen: What ingredients do you mainly use? What kinds of dishes do you prepare? What are they called?
Bar-Sela: First of all, I cook well. That is the first thing. And second, I enjoy it. If you ask me to cook soup, bake something, or prepare a dish, it will be ready quickly. It comes naturally to me. Anyone who wants can join me in the kitchen. I do not mind.
Cooking is intelligent work. You can experiment as much as you like. And do not forget, I come from Budapest. That is one of the great culinary cities of the world. French, Italian, Hungarian—the very best traditions. Cooking, for me, is a joy.
There was a period between jobs when I cooked more seriously, because many people do not like to cook. That is unfortunate. Cooking is wonderful. You can make something out of almost nothing. That comes from the Hungarian background. Hungarian cuisine is excellent—truly superb.
When I travelled and worked with many people, one of the things they most wanted was to eat in Budapest. The cuisine is famous. Even when we had very little at the beginning in Israel, Hungarians knew how to create something from nothing. We know how to cook any cuisine.
Jacobsen: What are the common dishes in Budapest and in Israel?
Bar-Sela: In Hungary, food is central. There are excellent markets of very high quality that are not expensive. In Israel, especially in Tel Aviv, food is more costly. Still, cooking is about intelligence. You should not spend a great deal of money if you can buy something just as good for less.
Cooking and baking are both good. If you enjoy it, it is not hard work. Baking is more precise, but it is still enjoyable. I cannot remember the last time I bought a cake.
Jacobsen: What kinds of cakes do you bake?
Bar-Sela: I bake very good cakes. Chocolate cake is always popular because people like it. But I can bake more than that. I prefer to make things myself rather than buy them. It is satisfying, and it tastes better. Cooking is a joy. Once you think of it as difficult work, it becomes difficult. But it is not hard at all.
For example, I bake many-egg cakes—yellow cakes. I think every cake can be good. You have to make it well and learn how to do it properly. Cooking requires experience, and books can help.
Cooking is worthwhile. It is not foolish at all. You cook what your children like, what your husband likes, what your father likes. Slowly, you develop your own kitchen. It depends very much on the people who are eating—what they like, what they do not like, what is fattening and what is not.
I do not know what is not fattening. Everything is, unfortunately. But cooking is good. Hungarian cuisine is very good—comparable to Italian or French cuisine. Chinese cuisine is different, but that can also be learned.
Cooking is satisfying. You prepare something, whether inexpensive or not, and everyone enjoys it. What could be wrong with that?
Jacobsen: Do you cook often?
Bar-Sela: Some men cook a great deal. Some are satisfied only with their own cooking. In Israel, it is easy to cook because we have everything available. You do not need the most expensive ingredients to make a good dish. With a Hungarian background, it is almost impossible to ruin a meal. If you must spend a little more sometimes, that is fine.
Jacobsen: Who cooks at home?
Bar-Sela: I do, of course. Cooking is a good occupation. You can win over your family with it. If they are satisfied, you know it. If they are not, they tell you. Everyone wants something different. That is normal.
Jacobsen: When am I coming for dinner?
Bar-Sela: To my place? In Israel, of course. Finish your time in Ukraine first. I do not know Ukrainian cuisine very well. I do like Russian cuisine—at least parts of it. I visited Russia once and was surprised by how delicate and good the food was. Ukrainian cuisine, I do not know well. It is difficult to cook properly when finances are tight.
When we were new immigrants in Israel, there was very little food. You could not simply go out and buy whatever you wanted. It was not easy. It took about ten years before things stabilized. That period was difficult. I was young then. I am older now, and I no longer complain about food. Everything is fine.
Jacobsen: When I come to Israel, and you cook for me, what will we eat?
Bar-Sela: You decide.
Jacobsen: What about matzo ball soup? Gefilte fish? Latkes? Kugel? A baked casserole with egg noodles?
Bar-Sela: I could make a baked casserole with egg noodles because I can learn anything from a book, but it is not something I usually prepare. Holiday dishes, of course, we make exactly as written in the books. That is how we grew up.
Over time, my cooking has become more Israeli as well. I also learned from non-Hungarians, because Hungarians generally cook well—whatever they prepare tastes good. Others are not always satisfied so easily.
Hungarians cook well, eat well, and behave well. That is important. Cooking is not a problem. You should enjoy it. If you do not enjoy cooking, then do something else. Let someone else cook. In a traditional Jewish home, you should at least know how to read a recipe.
Cooking is simple when you approach it properly. French cuisine is wonderful. Italian cuisine is very good. Chinese cuisine—I have eaten it, but I do not cook it myself.
Bar-Sela: Where are you?
Jacobsen: Kyiv.
Bar-Sela: Ah. I do not know much about Ukrainian cooking. But they must cook well.
Jacobsen: I have enjoyed the food here.
Bar-Sela: They make meat, bread, bagels, borscht—very good dishes. Borscht is excellent. In my house, though, most people do not like it. I do, but the real favourite in this family is chicken soup. You can make it every day, every two days—whenever you like. Once you cook a good chicken soup, you have succeeded.
Lately, chicken wings have been inexpensive. I do not know why—perhaps the factories stopped buying them. They are not extremely cheap, but they are affordable. You add plenty of greens—kohlrabi, onions, whatever vegetables you have—and it becomes a wonderful soup. People come to eat it. You are invited.
Jacobsen: We will stick to Hungarian and Jewish cuisine.
Bar-Sela: Hungarian cuisine is truly excellent. Have you been to Hungary?
Jacobsen: Not yet.
Bar-Sela: You should go. It is affordable. You can enter any restaurant—very famous or very simple—and the food will be good. Even in a market, you can eat soup that you would only find elsewhere in an expensive restaurant. The quality is remarkable.
In Israel, you can eat very expensively or very simply. In Budapest, you can eat well at every level—cheap or high-end. In a market, vendors will call you over and say, “Come try my soup.” It is extraordinary how good the food is.
I have eaten Italian and French cuisine. I know what refined food is. Hungarian food is not “high society.” It is simply very good. People cook well, eat well, and enjoy food.
In Israel, vegetables are wonderful year-round thanks to the climate. You can always find what you need. So you are invited. I will not go to Budapest to cook for you, but if you come here, you are welcome.
Jacobsen: Excellent. I have to go now.
Bar-Sela: Laila tov. Do you know what that means?
Jacobsen: No.
Bar-Sela: Good night. Laila tov.
Jacobsen: Laila tov. Thank you for your time.
Bar-Sela: You are welcome. Bye-bye.
Image Credit: Agi Bar-Sela.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
In a late-night thought experiment, Scott Douglas Jacobsen recalls opening a quantum cosmology conference in Baku alongside Edward Witten and Leonard Susskind. He asks whether a “time-reversed” black hole could exist—like a pencil balanced on its tip for eons: lawful, but fantastically unlikely. Rick Rosner argues anomalies require a stabilizing mechanism: agency, control systems, and engineered conditions, much like quantum computers holding fragile superpositions or laboratories sustaining fusion. They extend the logic to speculative warp travel and to “white holes,” the general-relativistic time-reverse of eternal black holes, while noting the real physics ultimately hinges on horizons, entropy, and information preservation.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I am very tired. Imagine Baku, Azerbaijan: a quantum cosmology conference. I give the opening address. People like Edward Witten are there.
Leonard Susskind is there, too, along with other people. Susskind gives a talk on thermodynamics. Witten gives a talk on black hole thermodynamics—especially the information-theoretic aspects.
Near the end, the interesting part is the thermodynamics of what would be the time-reversal of a black hole. The intuitive picture is like a pencil balanced on its tip for eons: not forbidden by the underlying laws, but wildly improbable. Given enough time—enough random shuffling in a big enough universe—you could still have a regular thermodynamic universe running forward in time, but with a locale where you get an emergent “time-reversed” object. Is that even permissible, in those terms?
Rick Rosner: Things are only “anomalous” if there is no mechanism producing the anomaly. If you have a pencil balanced on its end for eons, it is because you have an agent or a control system balancing the frickin’ pencil. You can do all sorts of crazy things in physics if you apply conscious control and agency.
Quantum computers are basically that: extremely delicate superposed states that would normally decohere, maintained by engineered conditions—tight isolation, control, refrigeration, and error correction.
So if we needed to do something “time-reversed-looking,” and we needed to engineer it, we could try. You just need to provide the framework. Fusion is another example: fusion on Earth is an unlikely configuration of matter, but you can do it if you set up the conditions.
That is also the only hope for faster-than-light travel. I do not think it will ever be possible in practice, but for it to be possible (even as a speculative idea) you would need to engineer tremendous effects that warp spacetime—contracting space ahead and expanding it behind—so you get apparent superluminal travel without locally moving faster than light.
But you are asking what a time-reversed object in a regular universe would look like. One candidate people talk about in general relativity is a “white hole,” often described as the time-reversal counterpart of an eternal black hole: you cannot enter it from the outside; instead, matter, light, and (in principle) information can only come out.
Black holes are “black” because of the event horizon—light cannot escape once it is inside—not because “information is missing” in a simple, everyday sense. The information problem is more specific: black holes have temperature and entropy, can emit Hawking radiation, and that combination raises hard questions about how information is ultimately preserved in a quantum description.
“The universe is built from information” is a philosophical stance some people like. As physics, the safer claim is that black holes behave like thermodynamic systems, and the deep issue is how that thermodynamics meshes with quantum mechanics.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
Dr. Ioan Răzvan Șuteu is a Romanian veterinary surgeon and founder of the Spay and Neuter for Hope Mobile Clinic. Since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, he has supported animals affected by the war in Ukraine, including early work at the Romania–Ukraine border, preparing documents so families could cross with pets. He joins periodic campaigns in multiple Ukrainian cities, operating on hundreds of animals. His primary focus is controlling stray dog and cat populations through spaying and neutering, while also treating war-related injuries. He collaborates with international networks, including World Wide Vets, and independent partners in the field on an ongoing basis.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Ioan Răzvan Șuteu about the RoUa campaign and veterinary work in wartime Ukraine. Șuteu describes large-scale abandonment of animals during evacuations, injuries from gunfire and bombardment, and chronic harm from starvation and missing veterinary care. He explains how sedatives, tranquillizers, and gentle handling help hypervigilant animals, and he notes compassion fatigue among veterinarians, worsened by war and euthanasia decisions. He lists scarce emergency supplies, argues cash donations are often most useful, recalls border paperwork in 2022, and emphasizes coordination through World Wide Vets and independent partners supporting dogs and cats.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s begin with the broader picture. How significant is the issue of stray, lost, or injured animals in wartime Ukraine? How serious is the problem?
Dr. Ioan Răzvan Șuteu: Animals also suffer the consequences of war. They may be abandoned, face food shortages, and receive less attention because people are focused on immediate human survival. In that sense, they can be among the first to suffer.
Based on what I have seen and what has been widely reported since the start of the full-scale invasion, large numbers of animals were left behind—especially early in the war, when many Ukrainians fled their homes. Some people could not take their animals with them due to practical difficulties with evacuation and cross-border travel, and some animals were left near border crossings.
In wartime, animals suffer too. As humans, we should do everything possible to reduce that suffering. That is part of what defines us.
Jacobsen: What common injuries do animals sustain in war?
Șuteu: Many are similar to human injuries. Animals can be shot, injured in shelling or bombardments, or harmed by other weapons and explosives. Even when they survive, many face longer-term suffering: starvation, lack of basic veterinary care, and untreated conditions that worsen because there is no one to care for them.
Many animals are still left behind without adequate food or care. I am not involved in animal rescue operations. I am a surgeon working to help keep the stray population under control through spaying and neutering—mostly dogs and cats. That is the main part of my work in Ukraine. I have also treated animals injured by the war, but my primary goal is to reduce the number of stray animals.
Jacobsen: How many animals die while you are caring for them?
Șuteu: I am not proud of it, but I have had very few casualties. I can count them on one hand since I have been working in Ukraine. I have not been there continuously; I travel from Romania for weekly campaigns. During that time, I have operated on hundreds of animals. I have not encountered major complications. The greatest risks arise with animals that are too weak or already seriously ill, as they are less able to tolerate surgery. Fortunately, I have not faced significant losses so far.
Jacobsen: When human beings experience psychological trauma, they can receive talk therapy or psychotherapy. Animals do not share language with us in that way. How do you work with animals that show hypervigilance or anxiety due to war?
Șuteu: You can recognize trauma in animals through their behaviour. Their eyes, posture, and body language reveal fear and stress. Addressing that is an important part of our work. Fortunately, veterinary medicine provides effective sedatives and tranquillizers that help animals remain calm and tolerate necessary procedures safely.
The most challenging part is gaining their trust. Humans understand they are suffering and often seek help. Animals do not interpret their experience that way. They may perceive anyone approaching them as a threat. For that reason, we must approach them with patience, calmness, and care, ensuring that treatment is carried out as gently and safely as possible.
Jacobsen: During war, medical workers who treat people—nurses, physicians, surgeons—often experience overwork, trauma, and burnout. Do veterinarians in wartime experience similar effects?
Șuteu: Veterinarians do not need to be in a war zone to experience psychological strain. Those deeply involved in animal care and committed to making a difference often experience professional fatigue and compassion fatigue. War intensifies that burden, making the work even more difficult.
Euthanasia, when necessary, is already emotionally taxing. Working in a war context adds another layer of stress. However, veterinarians who choose to work on the front line usually do so knowingly. Experience helps, and over time, the demands of the work become something you learn to carry. Even outside wartime, fatigue remains a serious challenge in the profession.
Jacobsen: On a personal note, why did you first enter the field of veterinary science and medicine, and why did you apply it to humanitarian work for animals during a war?
Șuteu: It is a difficult question for me. Many of my colleagues answer easily: they say they love animals and want to do good. For me, it is more complex.
I feel fulfilled being a veterinarian. I value the sense of purpose and the satisfaction of seeing the results of my work. Growing up in Romania, I witnessed many cases of animal mistreatment and abuse. These problems still exist. I knew I wanted to contribute to change—not only for animals, but for the relationship between animals and people.
I became involved in rescue work and shelter medicine in Romania. I also operate a mobile clinic, travelling from town to town with my own projects, helping low-income communities and addressing the needs of stray animals. I chose veterinary medicine because I want to serve as a bridge between people and animals, helping create a healthier relationship between them.
Jacobsen: What supplies are most needed for veterinarians treating animals in wartime, particularly those that are often in short supply? If people want to donate, what should they focus on?
Șuteu: The most critical supplies are those used in emergency medicine. These include gauze, intravenous cannulas, IV lines, fluids for fluid therapy, syringes, and other basic consumables required for stabilization and surgery. In many cases, the same types of emergency materials used in human medicine are also essential in veterinary care.
However, material donations are not always the most effective form of support. While we appreciate all goodwill, donated items are sometimes not what is urgently needed. Financial donations are generally more useful because they allow us to purchase exactly the supplies required at a given time and in the appropriate quantities.
Jacobsen: What are the most common animals that require assistance during the war?
Șuteu: I can speak primarily from my own experience in Ukraine. The majority of cases involve dogs and cats, as they are the animals most affected when people lose their homes or are forced to flee.
We have also assisted other animals, including donkeys, horses, swans, and sheep. In general, we treat any animal that remains with its owner or is brought to us for care.
Jacobsen: Do many veterinarians working during the war operate independently, or do they coordinate with larger networks?
Șuteu: Most veterinarians working in this context are connected to networks. Coordination is important because it enables people to identify critical areas that need help and mobilize resources efficiently. In my case, I was asked to assist by World Wide Vets, a large international veterinary organization, and I work under their umbrella during my missions. I also receive support from individual donors and independent associations. Veterinarians like me tend to be part of a broader community, and when assistance is needed, and we can go, we respond.
Jacobsen: How long have you been doing veterinary work related to the war?
Șuteu: I have been involved since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. In the early days, I worked at the border, helping families complete the necessary documentation so they could transport their animals from Ukraine into Romania.
Since then, I have participated in campaigns in various Ukrainian cities two or three times per year. I operate my own mobile clinic and have travelled with it to Ukraine. I have worked alongside colleagues from Scotland, Slovenia, and the United States. We are now part of an active international community supporting animals affected by the war.
Jacobsen: Any final thoughts based on today’s conversation?
Șuteu: Those interested in following my work can visit the Facebook page “Spay and Neuter for Hope Mobile Clinic.” My most recent campaign in Ukraine was conducted under the name ROUA, representing Romania and Ukraine, which also has a Facebook page documenting our activities. Information about upcoming missions can also be found through World Wide Vets.
Jacobsen: That concludes our discussion for now. Thank you for your time.
Șuteu: Thank you.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Serhii Gromov, Ukraine’s Peace Museum in Kyiv: UN Peacekeeping History, and the Žepa Legacy Amid War
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Milana Olefirenko Bennett (Translator English-Ukrainian)
Ukraine’s Peace Museum in Kyiv, founded by former UN peacekeeper Serhii Gromov, documents the country’s contributions to international peacekeeping missions since the early 1990s. Through personal archives, mission artifacts, flags, and correspondence, the museum highlights deployments in the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, and beyond. A central narrative focuses on the 1995 Žepa operation, which Ukrainian accounts credit with saving thousands of civilians. Operating during Russia’s ongoing invasion, the museum presents a paradox: a peace institution functioning in wartime. Its mission is both archival and aspirational, asserting Ukraine’s identity as a peace-contributing nation while enduring active conflict.
The Peace Museum in Ukraine (“Музей Миру”) presents itself as a space for peace-building and civic education. A mausoleum for public reflection about building a peaceful society through exhibitions and outreach. A platform for peace education and for promoting Ukraine’s peacekeeping record.
The museum sits within the broader “museums for peace” ecosystem. It has been a member of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) since July 7, 2022, according to the museum’s own website, which is part of an international community of peace-museum practice.
Serhii Gromov, who is the museum’s director and one of its founders, is a former Ukrainian peacekeeper. He was involved in Ukraine’s peacekeeping missions, including service connected to Sierra Leone/UNAMSIL (2003/04). In the museum space, one can find maps, patches, flags, letters, and mission artifacts as primary evidence to narrate peacekeeping work and international cooperation.
“I founded the Peace Museum on September 21, 2021, on the International Day of Peace in association with the Vasyl Yan Library in Kyiv. In 2024, I found this small room, and we decided to open the museum here,” Gromov said. “It is dedicated to peacekeeping cooperation, because this is very important for us. Many Ukrainian soldiers have served in peacekeeping missions.”
The museum’s story engine is inherently paradoxical. It foregrounds Ukraine’s peacekeeping past and peace-building identity while operating amid an invasion and wartime archiving. A Ukrainian peace museum explains peace through the vocabulary of survival.
Gromov framed the museum’s work as documenting Ukrainian peacekeeping history through a personal, volunteer collection. I asked Gromov about the most meaningful exhibit in the museum.
He said, “For me, the most meaningful exhibit is this flag. It was given by a colonel who commanded a battalion that protected civilians in Žepa during the war in the former Yugoslavia. Another British colonel was deeply impressed by the conduct of the Ukrainian soldiers and presented this flag to him as a gift.” Žepa had 79 Ukrainian peacekeepers on nine APCs operating in 1995. Evacuation negotiations were central to these operations.
Gromov spent part of his career in peacekeeping activities in aviation and helipad operations, which means receiving helicopters and coordinating takeoffs. His retirement work is a continuation of the peacekeeping work. The memorabilia presented and discussed reference commanders, donors, friends, and international contacts throughout the time in the peacekeeping operations. Ukraine has been a contributor to UN peacekeeping since the early 1990s.
These include missions and geographies in the former Yugoslavia, the Balkans, Slavonia, Sarajevo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Angola: the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans with two battalions and a helicopter unit.
Sierra Leone had the discussion shift to the mission and multiple sub-units, e.g., battalion, repair engineers, and a helipad unit. Shirts, masks, and devices are shown from this period. The electricity is off for most of the day, so the museum room is cold, and the lighting is moderately dim in the late afternoon.
Items from Liberia include various mosquito repellents for malaria protection and items related to his profession in aviation. Angola shows a company. He had many Kenyan friends in Africa.
The core collections of the museum include an enormous number of memories of lives throughout the world in peacekeeping work: Anti-mosquito net, beret, coins, colonel’s archive (Ukrainian- and English-language documents), envelopes/mission mail, flags, letters (including one from a nurse in Yugoslavia), maps, memoirs, newspaper items, patches/emblems, pilot device, and T-shirts.
There is a provenance narrative. In that, many items are framed as gifts from visiting peacekeepers, foreign officers, and various mission contacts from Australia, Germany/Ramstein, Liberia, and the UK/Wales.
Gromov reflected on why these peace museums matter, “It matters because we hope the war will end soon. If foreign peacekeepers come to Ukraine, our history should be interesting and meaningful for them.”
One story, the Žepa story, is a moral center in the discussion about the museum’s contents and stories. Gromov treats this as a defining ethical narrative, where, from his framing, Ukrainian soldiers “did not allow” a massacre or a mass killing there. He ties this to the shadow of Srebrenica. Srebrenica was the killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995. Ukrainian summaries credit the Žepa episode with saving more than 10,000 civilians.
According to Gromov, no medals or official recognition were given for Ukrainians involved in the Žepa operation. He claims an attempt was recently made to raise it again with President Zelenskyy, with documentation.
The outreach from this newer, smaller museum is extended to international audiences as well. Gromov plans a small booklet about the museum and an exhibition of soldiers’ artwork called “trench art.”
On what they want to show about one side of Ukraine, Gromov opined, “We want to show that Ukraine is a peaceful country. We have done much for peace, and we hope that Europe, North America, and the rest of the world will help us restore peace in our country. We are tired of war. We dream of peace.”
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/03
Uliana Poltavets, MS, is the International Advocacy and Ukraine Program Coordinator at Physicians for Human Rights. She focuses on documenting attacks on health care in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion and supporting accountability work. Before joining PHR, she spent roughly a decade strengthening Ukraine’s civil society. Poltavets’ advocacy highlights how drone strikes on hospitals, ambulance targeting, and attacks on energy infrastructure disrupt clinical services, strain health workers, and endanger vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, people with disabilities, and older adults. Her work links open-source verification, partner reporting, and hospital testimony into usable evidence for investigators, courts, and public decision-makers worldwide.
In conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Uliana Poltavets of Physicians for Human Rights on attacks against Ukraine’s health system. Poltavets describes documenting hospital bombings, detained and tortured health workers, and the illegality of striking maternity facilities. She reports that 2025 saw a sharp rise in drone attacks and continued targeting of ambulances, discouraging use of protective Red Cross emblems. She links assaults on energy infrastructure to disrupted procedures, burnout, and severe risks for dialysis, palliative, disabled, elderly, and pregnant patients. Poltavets notes verified-case counting, Berkeley Protocol methods, and major evidence gaps in occupied territories where monitoring and access remain impossible.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What originally led you to this work?
Uliana Poltavets: I have worked on the development of Ukraine’s civil society for the last 10–15 years. When the full-scale invasion began, I wanted to do something that mattered at that moment. I felt we needed to document the atrocities happening on the ground. I was drawn to Physicians for Human Rights because we saw bombings of hospitals, and healthcare workers being arrested, detained, and tortured. For me, that was at the core of this war. It is unjust, and it is against the norms of international law, to attack a maternity hospital or any place that serves as a refuge for communities.
Jacobsen: Based on your recent reports, including those not yet released, what distinct trends have emerged throughout 2025?
Poltavets: In 2025, one of the main trends we saw was the prominent use of drones to attack hospitals. We also observed a very large increase in drone use compared to earlier periods.
Another major trend is the targeting of ambulances, which has been rising, especially in frontline regions such as Kherson and Zaporizhia. It has reached the point where medics are reluctant to put a Red Cross emblem on their vehicles because they fear they will be attacked specifically because the vehicle is an ambulance or a medical evacuation vehicle. That is contrary to the law, because the emblem is intended to protect medical services from attack.
We are also looking at trends in maternity healthcare and how they relate to the developing legal concept of reproductive violence. In Ukraine, birth rates are lower than mortality, and maternal deaths are increasing. We are analyzing how attacks on maternity healthcare, which have been rising, may be contributing to these dynamics. Women want to know they can give birth in a safe place and a safe facility. When hospitals are attacked, it affects decisions about whether to give birth, whether to have children, and whether to give birth in a hospital.
We do not have statistical data that fully captures this, but we have anecdotal evidence from doctors reporting preterm deliveries linked to stress from attacks. Women have to move repeatedly during air raids, including going up and down to shelters. Some pregnant women are on bed rest near term, but during air raids they still have to go to a shelter, which means constant movement
It affects many decisions for women. Another major issue is attacks on energy infrastructure and how they affect healthcare delivery and population health. Last year, we conducted a nationwide survey of more than 2,261 healthcare workers. Over 90 percent reported experiencing power interruptions in their facilities, and more than 66% said those outages directly affected medical procedures.
Although many hospitals have generators or solar power, these systems cannot fully sustain hospital operations. A generator may supply power to an intensive care unit or neonatal unit, but it cannot power elevators, storage facilities, or maintain full functionality. This creates serious challenges for bedridden or immobile patients who cannot be moved manually. The burden falls on healthcare workers.
More than 83% of respondents reported high levels of burnout and stress related to energy attacks and power cuts, in addition to the overall strain of war. The healthcare workforce has decreased by appoximately 20% since the start of the full-scale invasion, while demand has increased. Energy attacks impose additional responsibilities. When there is no electricity, electronic medical records cannot be updated, so staff must work extra hours when power is restored.
Water, sanitation, heating in winter, and air conditioning during extreme summer heat have also been affected. In the summer of 2024, healthcare workers reported nonfunctioning toilets and disrupted water supply in hospitals, which is critical for medical care.
Our recent research also examined at-home care. For example, an at-home dialysis patient must run her machine several times a day for extended periods. She organizes her life around the power outage schedule, because if the machine stops during an outage, it can be life-threatening.
We also spoke with organizations supporting palliative care patients. These patients and their families experience significant psychological stress, knowing that a power outage could interrupt essential care. Organizations working with people with disabilities report that many individuals are confined to their homes during outages. Even if they go downstairs while electricity is available, they may not be able to return if elevators stop working. As a result, they are less likely to seek medical care during power cuts.
We have also spoken with organizations that work with elderly populations, and the situation is similar. Many older people become trapped in their homes during power outages and are less likely to seek medical care. The psychological burden is severe across all groups we interviewed. People must plan their lives around power cuts and constantly anticipate the worst, especially if they depend on electricity for medical care. That has a profound impact on vulnerable populations.
We examined how multiple factors interact. For example, a person with a disability who lives on an upper floor in an apartment building may have limited mobility, rely on electrical medical equipment, and face nonfunctioning elevators during outages. Even if they reach a hospital, that hospital may also be operating with limited capacity due to power cuts. These combined pressures can have serious health consequences.
This winter has been extremely harsh, and we expect to see more severe effects following prolonged cold temperatures.
Jacobsen: We have seen reports of deaths among vulnerable people. I recall a story about a Holocaust survivor in her eighties who froze to death in Kyiv. There will likely be more stories like that.
Poltavets: It does not require a snowstorm for freezing to occur. If the temperature inside an apartment remains below 15 degrees Celsius for an extended period, it can have serious health consequences, particularly for people with thermoregulation issues. Many people with disabilities experience difficulty regulating body temperature. Cold exposure can trigger spasticity, which is involuntary muscle tightening that is painful and difficult to control without warmth. Living in such conditions is physically painful and medically dangerous.
The number of people with disabilities has increased because of the war, including veterans and civilians injured by mines and other hostilities. This is a large and growing vulnerable population.
Jacobsen: Do you have documented cases of pregnant women or women who had just given birth being killed in hospitals?
Poltavets: I do not have individual case files with me, but there have been reports of pregnant women and women who had recently given birth being killed, as well as infants. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, we have documented 94 attacks on maternal healthcare facilities. Many of those attacks resulted in fatalities.
Jacobsen: Are there gaps in that systematic reporting? Is it possible that the actual number of attacks is higher than documented?
Poltavets: This is a fundamental limitation of our work. The actual number of attacks is likely higher than what we document. We collect data from open sources and verify it through a structured process based on the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. We record only what we can confirm with a high degree of confidence to ensure accuracy.
We also triangulate information through multiple channels. We work with partners on the ground who report what they observe in hospitals. We collect testimonies from hospital representatives. Some partner organizations conduct site visits. We also collaborate with Eyewitness to Atrocities, a secure documentation app that preserves metadata and prevents tampering with images. Photographs submitted through that system can be authenticated and added to our database. Our records are built from multiple verified sources.
Even with these methods, there are significant gaps. We cannot access remote areas, and we cannot operate in occupied territories, which constitute approximately 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory. We rely on accounts from people who have left those areas and on media reporting, but we cannot independently verify most of it.
Jacobsen: According to press freedom indices, Ukraine’s ranking has improved significantly in recent years, while Russia’s has declined. In occupied territories, reporting is likely to be far less reliable, and many journalists are understandably reluctant to go there because of the risks.
Poltavets: Access to occupied territories is extremely dangerous. I know individuals who went there, and the consequences were severe. International organizations, including major agencies such as the World Health Organization, also lack systematic monitoring in those areas. Without reliable health and system-level indicators, we cannot fully assess conditions there.
In our methodology, an attack on healthcare is defined broadly as any act that obstructs the provision of healthcare. It is not limited to bombings or attacks on ambulances. For example, in occupied territories there is a practice often described as “passportization,” in which residents are pressured to obtain Russian passports. In some cases, access to healthcare is conditioned on accepting that passport. When access to medical care is tied to political coercion, that constitutes an obstruction of healthcare and, in our framework, an attack on health.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Uliana.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Maayan Aviv (she/her) is Executive Director and CEO of American Friends of NATAL, leading the organization since March 2023. Trained in international relations, she brings 15 years of nonprofit leadership across strategic planning, community partnerships, fundraising, donor stewardship, and mission-driven marketing. Aviv emphasizes collaboration that strengthens psychosocial resilience and healthier societies. Before joining AFN, she served as Executive Director of American Friends of ALYN Hospital, supporting pediatric rehabilitation initiatives. She is a public-facing spokesperson who links philanthropy, governance, and impact measurement to durable, dignified support for communities in daily practice.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Maayan Aviv, Executive Director and CEO of American Friends of NATAL, about tzedakah as justice rather than optional charity. Aviv argues that giving should aim at equality and equal opportunity, with justice emerging from the giver’s intent and choices. She adds that dignity requires more than money: donors should give “with a full heart,” while institutions must be transparent about impact and sufficiency. Aviv highlights proportional responsibility guided by communal leadership, distinguishes tzedakah from hands-on gemilut chasadim and tikkun olam, and stresses oversight so philanthropy does not become a tool of power.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What makes tzedakah “justice” rather than optional charity?
Maayan Aviv: Tzedakah, while it is focused on giving money, it’s really more than that. It creates justice or a great sense of equality by helping those that don’t have the means. When making a donation, people need to look at giving with an emphasis on equal opportunity. A person always has the choice to donate, it’s the intent that makes it just or not. Ultimately, justice comes from the giver because they are making the decision of where, when and how much to give.
Jacobsen: What does dignity require from givers and institutions beyond delivering funds?
Aviv: Beyond the transfer of funds, dignity demands a deeper commitment from both the giver and the institution. For the giver, dignity is found when the donation is made with a full heart. It should be done with a spirit of generosity. For the institution, dignity is rooted in transparency and the honesty to admit if the resources were sufficient. While a donation may be a singular event, the relationship must be over a lifetime. It’s important to invite the donor to lend their heart and hands to the mission too.
Jacobsen: How should Jewish communities decide proportional responsibility per person?
Aviv: Each individual should determine their contribution based on their own ability. When you are part of a community, the role of leadership is to suggest proportional allocations to specific, meaningful causes. For example, a synagogue might decide that supporting mental health in Israel is a core initiative for 2026. Their job is to educate the membership on the need and help them decide how to direct their support.
Many of the vital connections made with American Friends of Natal (AFN) came through community-selected groups specifically looking to fund trauma and mental health services.
Jacobsen: What are the lines, if any, between tzedakah, gemilut chasadim, and tikkun olam in daily communal work?
Aviv: What we are discussing here is that philanthropy isn’t always about money. It is about personal, hands-on service. This question essentially shows people that being a philanthropist means more than just writing a check.
All three forms of giving involve offering a piece of yourself for the greater good. I see a distinct difference: Tzedakah has traditionally centered on financial support, whereas other forms of service begin with the wellbeing of your local community and then extend globally. Gemilut chasadim and tikkun olam are often more hands-on.
For example, consider the different ways to support senior care: you can donate to a facility, you can visit a center to offer companionship, or you can volunteer your time directly with an elderly person. Each is a valid and vital way to give.
Jacobsen: What accountability norms prevent tzedakah funds from becoming a power tool?
Aviv: Oversight, procedures, policies and even when it’s tzedakah it still has to be regulated. Having a set of rules of how you collect the money, what is the intent, how are you using the money, how are you reporting? Making sure that decision making process is a procedure. Lay leaders, board of directors, families, trustees, people that are educated enough about the tzedakah to make a decision.
Even when the mission is tzedakah, the process must be governed by oversight, procedures, and clear policies. Regulation is not a burden; it is a necessity. This requires a formal set of rules defining how funds are collected, the specific intent behind the appeal, how the money is deployed, and the transparency of the reporting.
The decision-making process must be a standard procedure, led by a group of lay leaders, boards of directors, families, and trustees. These individuals who are educated enough about the tzedakah to make a decision. They need to be responsible to ensure that every decision is made with integrity.
Jacobsen: How do you balance emergency relief with longer term forms of self-sufficiency?
Aviv: Every philanthropic cause has its immediate, short term and long term needs. We also need to prepare for a “rainy day” as emergencies happen. The challenge is making sure that donors don’t just respond to a current crisis, but invest in the infrastructure that allows us to fight the fire when it breaks out.
A primary example of this is what Dr. Boaz Shalgi, NATAL’s Chief Psychologist, coined “Rolling Trauma.” Unlike traditional PTSD, which stems from a singular, isolated event, rolling trauma is continuous. In Israel, the trauma isn’t a one-time crisis. It is an ongoing reality shaped by the October 7 attacks, persistent missile strikes, mass displacement, and collective grief. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, it collects new layers of trauma with every rotation, impacting both the individual and the community.
Philanthropy needs us to support the steady, daily work of mental health and trauma resilience. By funding the routine, we ensure that when a new emergency strikes, the table is already set, the experts are already in place, and the community is ready to respond.
Jacobsen: How should communities practice tzedakah while avoiding savior dynamics/complexes?
Aviv: A donor’s ego may not be something we can control. It’s about education and perspective that can hopefully be guided. Philanthropy attracts many different personalities and there will always be individuals who feel they are “saving the world.” To an extent, they are. While some donors are modest, others think they rule the world.
You can’t change these personalities. Even top-tier donors are searching for a specific feeling of impact, and as an institution, you have to navigate that. For instance, we might have one $100K donor who insists on total anonymity, while another $100K donor wants their name recognized everywhere for a year. At the end of the day, it’s about meeting donors where they are, ensuring they are recognized in the way they value most so they can give their gift with a full heart, and without regret.
Jacobsen: Is digital tzedakah much of a thing? If so, does it change the contemporary framing of ancient ethics?
Aviv: The role of digital tzedakah is growing. Being online helps people maintain their anonymity, which deepens the opportunity to truly know your donor. It’s a lot like digital dating: it is often easier for people to be vulnerable or explore an interest because they have the safety of their screens.
In philanthropy, this digital layer adds a new step to the ‘getting to know you’ process. It is an evolution that mirrors the business world. Things are moving in this direction because it makes the cause more accessible. By meeting donors online, we are moving towards the modern way people build trust and make commitments.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Mayaan.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Scott Silverman, EdD, is Dean of Noncredit & External Programs at Santa Monica College, where he leads adult education, workforce training, and community partnerships that broaden access beyond traditional credit pathways. He designs programs for older adults, career re-entry learners, and working professionals, pairing analytical forecasting with student development and engagement. A teacher and public speaker, he also mentors higher-education staff on program design, training, and service. Known for clear communication, he emphasizes in-person connection while using hybrid tools strategically. His career path was sparked by an early mentor in student affairs, turning curiosity into a commitment to community learning. Scott has been a Hebrew School teacher, youth group advisor and Hillel Director, and has been a co-founder and board member for several nonprofit organizations.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Scott Silverman about what makes a Jewish community and what sustains it under stress. Silverman emphasizes that Jewish life is fundamentally communal: prayer requires a minyan, and shared history, fate, and evolving customs bind people across geography and denomination. Responsibilities follow through tikkun olam and tzedakah, learned individually and enacted collectively. He argues that political polarization and moral demonization can fracture communities, while trauma often unites them. Repair requires leadership, shared humanity, and rituals like Un’taneh Tokef. He also flags synagogue dues and post–B’nai Mitzvah disengagement as continuity threats.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In Jewish thought, what makes a “community”?
Dr. Scott Silverman: Most of Jewish tradition and celebration is all community based. We can’t pray without a minyan (traditional terms is 10 men, I like to think of it as 10 adults myself). We are a people bound together by shared history, shared fate, shared traditions and customs (the same observances and holidays even as they evolve with unique customs from different parts of the world). As the Debbie Friedman (I guess Larry Midler wrote it) song goes, “wherever you go, there’s always someone Jewish. You’re never alone when you say you’re a Jew”. We might be 0,2% of the world population with variations in practice from Ashkenazi to Sephardic to Mizrahi and more, but if you go to Shabbat in Morocco, Pairs, Tel Aviv or Brazil – the practices resonate around the world.
Jacobsen: What responsibilities follow from being in community as an individual and as a member of the group?
Silverman: There is a duty, a shared responsibility for each other, for the world. One of the core principles in Judaism is tikkun olam, repairing the world, and that starts individually (bring a dollar for Tzedakah at Sunday School, collecting coins in a JNF tin, etc), and then we learn what it means to help people together (volunteer at a food bank, or the Temple’s own clothing/toiletry drive, or even making decisions as a Sunday School for where this year’s accumulated tzedakah can go).
The B’rit Milah binds us to God, but that covenant extends really to all of the principles and values of Judaism. As we learned from Rabbi Hillel and Shammai, the stranger asked Shammai to teach him the Torah while standing on one foot, and Shammai smacked him in the hear with a ruler….but Rabbi Hillel lifted one leg and said “that which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. The rest is commentary, go and learn it”. Essentially, what we now know as the Golden Rule, comes from this lesson. Every life is sacred, help where you can, how you can.
Jacobsen: How do you build community across differences of political ideology, class, intermarriage, or observance level?
Silverman: Political and ideological issues may be the most challenging. We’ve seen fractures within families since the 2016 election, even from folks who previously had been apolitical. Not just within the Jewish community, oif course…but for our community, an added lens of in-fighting saying that you’re not doing the right thing for the Jewish community if you don’t like (insert name of any candidate).
That said…the richness of our traditions, even amongst those that are agnostic or not really practicing much, still brings people together. Whether it’s the once (or twice a year people who come to High Holy Day services only, or those who drag their kids to Hebrew School because it’s the right thing to do, we can check our differences at the door.
The most skillful clergy can even lead some deep discussion, even discussions that lead one way or the other, without alienating anyone to the point that the community fragments…and circle back to a sense of shared understanding.
I grew up Reform…Sunday School, eventually Hebrew on Wednesdays, a 45min drive back and forth, and only weekend services for B’nai Mitzvahs. It would have been very easy for my parents to not take us, and when I asked my dad about it, he said “our community has survived for thousands of years – who am I to cause a break in that chain”.
When I walk into an Orthodox environment – I may not be able to keep up with the davening and the speed at which prayers are muttered – and I’d prefer a little more community singing, but I know it’s the same faith, different lens. I hope all of our children, from all denominations, grow up with a similar understanding.
Intermarriage – super important for the couple to talk, and I think ensure their kids are exposed to both. Maybe even force some learning of both. So many college students who ended up getting only superficial of either, and they feel lost or short-changed.
Jacobsen: What realities of community can break communities?
Silverman: It’s natural for people to have different perspectives, opinions on issues. The old adage, two Jews, three opinions…
This is fine, expected, maybe welcome. However, if we can’t agree for mutual coexistence, we will have problems. There’s a key difference between “I disagree with that person” and “that person is so wrong and they’re evil or vile for having that opinion”.
Community trauma normally can fracture communities….we have seen so much of it in every generation, that it tends to bring us together.
Jacobsen: What is the process of regaining trust and rebuilding community when major fractures occur?
Silverman: We have to regain our mutually assured belief that there is value in each and every human being. Person A might be in the NRA and Person B in favor of gun control. They have to be able to coexist.
When fractures occur, we need leadership, from clergy and lay leaders, to remind us of our shared humanity, our shared values, trials, tribulations.
Jacobsen: What does accountability look like in Jewish communal life?
Silverman: I think the fact that the entire B’nai Mitzvah celebration is actually built around the transition into adulthood in the eyes of community is the best example. Nobody expects a 13 year old to be as perfectly mature as an adult…but we do, formally and informally, expect our new young adults to act more mature, to be more responsible.
The Bar or Bat Mitzvah gives us the chance to be the students, and our youth-now-adult the teacher. Many other religions or cultures have some form of transition ritual as well…but I don’t know if any of the others involve a teaching on morals and lessons from that week’s religious teaching, as translated into the modern experience of our youth.
Jacobsen: Which Jewish concepts best guide community unity, and navigating conflict and repair?
Silverman: I think Un’taneh Tokef is a good example. During Yom Kippur, we atone for our own sins, but we also, quite intentionally, atone for sins committed by others in our community. Literally all of the sins. There’s no judgment, no guessing about which person near us did what, we just, by rote and ritual, knock our fist over our heart and atone for each sin. It is a resetting for us individually and as a community. How beautiful is that!
Jacobsen: If you could redesign one communal norm, what would you change?
Silverman: I have always been concerned that the price of membership dues to synagogues might persist as a barrier to entry for many families. Perhaps that is why some folks who are otherwise quite reform, go to Chabad as it’s free to participate. I know Temples have options…but fundamentally, I think this is a challenge to continued Jewish communal participation.
The other one: After B’nai Mitzvah, there’s maybe Confirmation in 10th grade. Maybe someone joins Hillel in College, Maybe they ind Moshe House or some Jewish community to be active in before they get married….but there is a good solid 10-15 year gap of active Jewish participation for most individuals from youth to when they have their own kids. Sure, they go to Weddings and Brit Milahs, they will find a Rabbi for their own wedding, but I think many folks are disconnected from a specific Jewish community until they have kids to enroll in Sunday School – and that is a threat to Jewish continuity.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Scott.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Scott Silverman, EdD, is Dean of Noncredit & External Programs at Santa Monica College in Culver City, California. He leads adult and noncredit education, workforce training, community outreach, and student development initiatives that expand access beyond traditional degree pathways. Silverman is known for program building, data-informed forecasting, and practical student-engagement strategies, and he frequently speaks on higher education management and the evolving workplace. He also teaches, mentors staff, and partners with local organizations to support older adults and re-entry learners. His work blends service, accountability, and a campus-centred belief in human potential while keeping equity and dignity at the center.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Scott Silverman about why tzedakah is framed as justice rather than discretionary charity. Silverman argues it is a moral obligation woven into Jewish formation and ethics, extending from the Golden Rule toward a “Platinum Rule” that centers on recipients’ needs. He emphasizes dignity through anonymity, reducing coercion, dependency, and awkward power dynamics. Drawing on Maimonides’ eight levels of charity, he explores how communities should balance individual discretion and communal responsibility, vet and audit funds, and prioritize both emergency relief and long-term sustainability. He also considers how digital giving reshapes trust and access.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Why is tzedakah defined as justice rather than optional charity?
Dr. Scott Silverman: Tzedakah is almost an expectation in Judaism. We are expected to give to charitable causes, and this is literally woven into the weekly expectation at Sunday School. It is a moral obligation rooted in the Torah….do unto others as you would have done unto you, Golden Rule. The Platinum Rule is better… but a more modern invention. I want to think it still applies: do unto others as they would want done unto them.”
So do not hurt people if you do not want to be hurt, and help people if you would want help… or help people, but treat them the way they would need/treat people, the way they would want to be treated.
Jacobsen: What does dignity require from givers and recipients in practice?
Silverman: Dignity requires anonymity. Dignity and anonymity are critical. It prevents a lot of awkward conversations… the recipient trying to latch on to the donor, the donor wanting to stop giving after a single failed effort with the recipient, etc. Teaching someone how to fish so they can take care of themselves and not be dependent on others. For your information, though, you must be familiar with Maimonides’ Eight Levels of Charity:
Jacobsen: How do you balance individual discretion with communal obligation?
Silverman: Tzedakah is a “yes, and” for me…meaning I want people to give what they can, when they can, both to the collective efforts, and to things on their own or as a family. Giving is infectious. Volunteering to put together a bag of toiletries may even be more lasting than donating $5 to cover the cost of 1 bag. I would almost want to see how Maimonides would update the 8 levels of giving for today’s world. Where would ordering a bulk pack of toothbrushes on eBay or Amazon fit in? What about recurring, set-it-and-forget-it donations versus intentional estate gifts? What would the levels even teach fundraising professionals…
Jacobsen: Where are the lines between tzedakah, gemilut chasadim, and tikkun olam?
Silverman: Tzedakah – justice/fairness
Gemilut Chasadim – acts of loving kindness
Tikkun Olam – repairing the world=
Giving tzedakah IS an act of gemilut chasadim, and every act of loving kindness we perform brings us closer to repairing the world. Tikkun Olam is built on gemikllut chasadim.
Jacobsen: What accountability and transparency standards should communal funds meet?
Silverman: Spitballing here:
The person administering funds to those in need should conduct some vetting to ensure that those receiving the funds are not going to use them nefariously (drugs, booze), but that they will be used as intended.
Donors will want to know they have made an impact… and it can be done without saying “this is the specific person you helped” or “this is the person who helped you”.
Jacobsen: In the community, who audits this power?
Silverman: The Board of the Temple, or of the nonprofit, would hire an auditor… but the report would also help with future fundraising pitches.
Jacobsen: How do you decide between emergency relief and long-term economic sustainability?
Silverman: Jewish Free Loan Association is such a great example. They offer short-term interest-free loans.
The goal is always to teach a person how to fish… but some need help recognizing the mental capacity and bandwidth to get the next meal. Take care of the basic needs without becoming that person’s sole source – or you will not be able to have a broader impact.
Jacobsen: How do communities reduce stigma, handle confidentiality, and avoid “deservingness” tests?
Silverman: Having a fully transparent set of criteria, but leaving wiggle room, and/or a discretionary fund that can be given out without adherence to the criteria, can get you out of the deservingness game.
Jacobsen: How are digital tzedakah and public policy reshaping Jewish giving if at all?
Silverman: Tzedakah used to be so focused through the Temple. Even over the last 20 years, when digital giving has existed, most people still gave through the Temple, aside from big gifting, up until about 2015, when Charity Navigator and so many other vetting services became much more well-known. SO that you did not need to have a nonprofit vetted by the Temple before you supported it, this was accelerated by the pandemic, when there was no way to gather for so long. Digital giving has made it possible for anyone to give at any time. Some, like https://dollaraday.co/, have made it so painless that it is easy to give whatever you can. Maimonedes would say something about this for sure – giving but automating it, where does that fall into the ladder of tzedakah?
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Scott.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Rev. Dr. Louise Goben is President of the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry and has volunteered with the pantry almost since its inception. With her family, she spent decades transporting food from Temple Beth Hillel to distribution at First Christian Church, strengthening a practical Jewish–Christian partnership against hunger in the San Fernando Valley. Ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), she is retired from active congregational ministry but still preaches and teaches Bible when invited. She also teaches World Religion and History of Religion through the Encore Program at Los Angeles Pierce College. Her work centers on dignity.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen talks with Rev. Dr. Louise Goben on interfaith as cooperation rooted in the Golden Rule and shared humanity, not conversion. She recounts how Jewish and Christian congregations formed the Pantry in 1983 during the Reagan-era recession, motivated by compassion and an ambitious mission to eliminate hunger in the San Fernando Valley. Today, food supply is abundant, but inflation drives need—especially among seniors and families living in multigenerational homes. Key bottlenecks include limited space and the logistics of warehousing at Temple Beth Hillel while distributing at First Christian Church, sustained by volunteers and dignity-centered service.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What does Interfaith mean in practice?
Rev. Dr. Louise Goben: Every religious and philosophical tradition of the world embraces a concept of the Golden Rule. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Interfaith conversation means that we seek to engage in conversation and partnerships with one another, not to convert or to gain one-upmanship, but to understand the common ground on which we all stand – our shared humanity. We posses the ability to rise above conflicts that often divide us. It is imperative that we do this as the very real possibility exists that we can destroy the world. This is not to sound doomsday-ish. Rather it is a hopeful approach to understanding the goodness that is inherent in all humanity. We work together for the benefit of the whole world.
Jacobsen: How did the partnership model evolve?
Goben: The particular partnership of the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry (NHIFP) began when 5 women, representing several congregations (Jewish and Christian) became alarmed by the increasing numbers of people facing food insecurity as a result of the economic recession in the US during the Reagan administration. These women were motivated by their faith traditions and their compassion. They felt compelled to care about hungry people in their community. It was that simple – compassion. In 1983 the Pantry was created with the goal of “…eliminating hunger in the San Fernando Valley.” It was an optimistic goal, but it is still part of our Mission. We believe that no one should go hungry; there is ample food available for all people.
Jacobsen: Which needs are rising fastest right now, e.g.,food quantity, families, unhoused clients, etc.?
Goben: Today we are sharing more food with our neighbors than we were during the recent pandemic. During the COVID crisis, there was a panic over resourcing enough food as everything came to a sudden, grinding halt. That is not the issue today. Food is available in abundance! However, prices are much higher due to inflation. Prices are higher for everything, including gasoline, rent, insurance, and utilities. And salaries are not rising on par with the cost of living. At the Pantry we are noticing an increase in the number of seniors seeking food assistance, as well as families. In many households we find that there are multiple generations living in a single home, and in some cases more than one family that shares the same residence. While we have a percentage of folks that are unhoused coming to us for assistance, it is the by far the smallest segment of our clientele.
Jacobsen: What are the hardest operational bottlenecks?
Goben: One of our biggest challenges is space. A little over three years ago we moved from a distribution space of about 400 sq. feet to a larger facility that is approx. 1900 sq. feet. We have outgrown it already. And this is just our distribution space. For the 43 years we have been in operation, the Pantry has had two locations for the work we do. The warehousing is done in the basement of the education building at Temple Beth Hillel, while distribution occurs on the property of First Christian Church. It requires much coordination and effort to make sure that there are sufficient volunteers to move food back and forth between the facilities. Both of these properties are located in areas that are fairly residential and there are nearby schools, so we try very hard to be aware of the impact of literally hundreds of vehicles that line up to receive assistance. We are very grateful to have an abundance of volunteer help, and the willingness of many local schools that provide us with student contributions as well.
Jacobsen: How do you balance compassion with fairness?
Goben: Interesting question that I’m not quite sure how to respond to. I don’t really see an unfairness about what we try to accomplish. We serve all people that come to us equally and we have never turned anyone away because we have run out of food. If there are individuals that are unruly or appear threatening, we will serve them and get them on their way quickly. We have security on hand to keep everyone safe. And those who volunteer with us are asked to participate in a non-discrimination agreement. I think it is also important to note that at our point of distribution we have volunteers that speak several languages. The East San Fernando Valley has a variety of ethnic constituencies. We have volunteers that speak Farsi, Armenian, Russian, Ukrainian, and of course Spanish. We have had requests for other languages and that is when apps on our cell phones come in handy!
Jacobsen: What metrics track impact beyond meals served?
Goben: For this we largely rely on the stories we hear from our clients. People tell us about their health concerns, loss of jobs, housing concerns, etc. And people also share with us when they find a new job, or how they depend on knowing food is available to them. Food is what we do. We don’t provide clothing or medical assistance, etc.so there are no metrics on housing or some of these other needs.
Jacobsen: As a minister and religion educator, how do you speak about hunger?
Goben: When I am speaking to gatherings of religious folks, the most obvious place to start is with scripture. The Bible is filled with both admonitions and invitations to care for “the least among you.” And compassion is a hallmark of how God blesses and cares for us. That said, not all groups I address are religious folks. I was invited to speak at a meeting of the LA County Board of Supervisors last year. In that context I needed to be aware that this was a civic gathering, and emphasized that we are all engaged in serving our communities in a variety of settings. And my answer to the following question will also reflect on how I speak about hunger.
Jacobsen: What is one policy change to most reduce the pantry’s caseload?
Goben: It is difficult to choose one! In the short term, I believe it is important that the administration reduce the barriers that prevent people from receiving SNAP benefits. There is SO MUCH food that is being produced in our world. And a significant amount of that food is thrown out. The US government estimates that as much as 40% of food that is produced in the US is wasted. That’s mind boggling to me. There is no reason anyone should not have enough to eat. Hunger is a man-made issue. Don’t get me started…
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Louise.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth is the founder of Bluth’s Ritual Studio, a Toronto-based practice that works globally, and is devoted to reimagining Jewish ritual for modern life. Ordained by Beit Midrash Har El, an Orthodox yeshiva that ordains women, she works largely in a Conservative-inflected mode as a rabbi, educator, wedding officiant, and artist. Her work blends pastoral care, theology, and aesthetic craft, including Hebrew calligraphy and ceremony design. She is developing a stunning coffee-table book to help people build community around the rituals that matter most. She collaborates with couples and communities to make belonging resilient.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth, founder of Bluth’s Ritual Studio, about Jewish community as purpose-driven peoplehood rather than a mere feeling of inclusion. Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth distinguishes kehilla (an assembled community of obligation) and edah (a witnessing group shaped by shared experience) from modern “belonging” language. She explains how Jewish weddings become communal covenants through witnesses, ketubah, minyan, and collective joy. She outlines Jewish frameworks for conflict—tochacha, teshuvah, machloket l’shem shamayim, and arevut—and argues that beauty, ritual craft, and accessible practice build resilient belonging across difference.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In Jewish thought, what distinguishes kehilla/edah from social belonging?
Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth: In Jewish thought, kehilla and edah describe forms of collective life that are not primarily organized around feelings of inclusion, rather around shared purpose, memory, and responsibility. A kehilla is a gathered community – from the root hakhel, to assemble – a people called together for something – often practice, covenant, or collective obligation. Edah, from the root ed (witness), is a group formed through shared experience: people who have seen something together and carry that forward in their collective identity.
Social belonging, by contrast, describes an individual’s subjective sense of inclusion, acceptance, or connection. Belonging is measured by how welcome one feels; whether one is seen or affirmed; and whether one can remain comfortably inside a group.
The former (Kehilla/Edah) is about a covenantal peoplehood, or a values based community; the later (social belonging) is a more individual experience of felt inclusion.
Kehilla and Edah are not primarily concerned with whether individuals feel included; they are concerned with what a people is gathered to do and sustain together. Belonging may emerge from that shared life, but it is not the organizing principle. By contrast, social belonging is a language of affect and inclusion – a measure of how welcome or accepted one feels. As Priya Parker notes, contemporary communities often mistake inclusion for meaning, offering belonging without purpose. Jewish communal life, by contrast, assumes that meaning comes first – and belonging follows.
Jacobsen: When you officiate a wedding, what converts a private moment into a communal covenant?
Rosenbluth: The Jewish wedding is in fact a very communal experience! It is not something that is just happening between two people, rather the intimacy is broader and the community plays a crucial role in the ceremony. When I work with couples or train officiants, I like to remind people that a Jewish wedding doesn’t technically need a Rabbi – rather it needs witnesses, people that are representing the community, who are showing up to make the marriage official, to bring community support and participation to the process. Even the wedding contract, The Ketubah, is not a private contract between the couple – rather, it’s a contract signed by the witnesses – on behalf of the community. It is the community saying: we witness your love, we support you on your journey together, we are here to hold you accountable and to widen your circles. It is a covenant within community, it brings together communities, and it is between the couple and the community.
During the ceremony, the guests play an important role. Their role is to bring joy to the couple “Lesameach Chatan v’kalah”. When we give the seven blessings at a wedding, we do so in the presence of the minyan – a quorum of ten. The celebration after the ceremony – the festive meal, seudat mitzvah – is part of the wedding rituals as well. All of these things are inherently communal and collective. It’s not supposed to be private, or a pure performance, it is a participation of a community.
Perhaps that’s the symbolism of the chuppa – like an open air tent of meeting, a gathering place. It holds two people in their union, yet it invites the wider community to witness and to hold. In a way it is also a nexus point that connects with the ancestors of the past and marks a moment that will bring forth new futures, a new family. A private moment that is widened on many scales.
Jacobsen: What is belonging in practice, e.g., who gets welcomed, who sets norms?
Rosenbluth: Belonging, in practice, is shaped by shared purpose. It involves safety, accountability, engagement, and accessibility, and it is something cultivated over time rather than assumed.
Cultures of belonging develop and evolve in many ways. Jewish law, practice, and tradition often influence these cultures of belonging – sometimes prescriptively, by defining norms and expectations, and sometimes descriptively, by reflecting the lived reality of a community. Some norms are inherited from elders or previous generations; others are shaped or articulated by leadership. Always, they are influenced by the purpose of the group and by the people who comprise it. Ritual, repetition, and shared practice play a significant role in establishing and reinforcing these norms. They may be inherited, adapted, or reinvented. I find that norms are most durable when they make sense, invite input from the group, and are framed positively – allowing them to stick, grow, and adapt alongside the community itself.
As for who gets welcomed, that depends on how a community understands and defines its boundaries.
Jacobsen: Communities inevitably face conflict. What Jewish frameworks guide accountability and repair?
Rosenbluth: In Jewish tradition, conflict isn’t understood as a breakdown of community –
It’s an inevitable part of being in a long term and diverse community. The question is how to address harm when it occurs. There are several core frameworks that guide this. One is tochacha, constructive rebuke: addressing harm directly and, when possible, privately, with the goal of repair rather than shaming. Accountability is meant to remain relational, not performative. This brings us to the most well known principle which is Teshuvah – a concrete process that places responsibility on the person who caused harm – naming what happened, taking responsibility, making amends where possible, and actually changing behavior over time. An apology alone isn’t the endpoint; change is. Rambam writes extensively about this, particularly in ways that surface during the High Holidays. Part of this is that forgiveness is never forced. Repair must come before reconciliation, and the person who was harmed is not obligated to forgive in order to restore comfort.
Judaism also makes space for disagreement itself. The idea of machloket l’shem shamayim—argument for the sake of heaven—holds that people can disagree deeply and still belong to the same community. Unity doesn’t require sameness, and conflict isn’t a threat when it’s held with care and integrity. There are organizations today that try to promote this given how highly divisive politics have become in Jewish community today.
Importantly, accountability isn’t only individual; it’s collective. The principle of arevut, mutual responsibility, understands harm as something that affects the whole group. That’s why repair shows up not only in personal conversations, but in communal rituals like Yom Kippur—an annual reset that reminds us we are always practicing how to do better together. Personally, I also look to frameworks of transformative justice to guide moments that require genuine harm reduction and repair. I know many rabbinical schools and Jewish institutions that are doing the same, drawing on these frameworks alongside traditional sources to respond to harm with greater care, responsibility, and depth.
Jacobsen: How do you build community across difference?
Rosenbluth: For me, it begins with empowering ritual in the home – bringing shared traditions and purpose into people’s personal lives in ways that feel alive and accessible. When people have shared practice, they can build community even across real differences in background, identity, politics, and belief.
Rather than outsourcing identity to political ideologies or institutions, this approach affirms that Torah and Jewish tradition belong to everyone. It’s not just for the most literate, the most observant. Too many people today call themselves “bad Jews,” almost as if it were its own denomination. I’m interested in offering an alternative – creating an empowered, accessible and inspired relationship for everyone in the community.
My work is about giving people tools, language, and inspiration to form a living, breathing relationship with tradition – one that feels positive, meaningful, and rooted. From there, a sense of belonging can emerge that stretches across difference: across place, time, opinions, and lived experience, without requiring sameness.
Jacobsen: How do rabbis work with those who have been, or feel as if they’ve been, lonely, shamed, and excluded inside Jewish spaces?
Rosenbluth: At their best, rabbis help people find places where they can belong. They can also empower individuals to ask for accountability and to seek repair when harm has occurred. Through processes of trust-building, responsibility, and repair, people may be able to re-enter spaces where they once felt unwelcome – or find new spaces that feel more aligned.
Today, many rabbis also bring a therapeutic sensibility to this work, helping people process experiences of pain, shame, and trauma. That support can be essential in restoring a sense of dignity, safety, and connection – whether within existing communities or beyond them.
Jacobsen: What does digital Judaism provide?
Rosenbluth: Digital Judaism provides access and it provides creativity.
It gives people who live far from Jewish community the ability to participate, and people who live far from centers of learning the ability to learn. It also gives those who have been shaped within one expression of Judaism access to other voices, practices, and ways of being Jewish. Digital Judaism can support certain forms of community. At the same time, I believe that genuine community ultimately requires gathering in person – being physically together, and allowing experience to become collectively shared rather than remaining purely individual. In addition to the book of Jewish ritual that I am working on, I hope to develop an app that will provide people a “Jewish ritual guidance at your finger tips” experience to make ritual experience accessible and inspired.
Jacobsen: Your work blends art and ritual. How can beauty function as a technology of communal attachment?
Rosenbluth: Abarbanel writes that beauty is that which moves the soul toward love. Beauty opens. It expands. It brings people into creativity, connection, motivation, and a sense of expanse.
Beauty allows people to enter a state of wonder and openness – toward intimacy, toward deeper relationships, toward learning something new. In communal life, that openness matters. It shapes how people show up, how safe they feel, and how willing they are to engage rather than remain purely analytical.
Another way to understand beauty in ritual is through lived experience. Studying for rabbinic ordination in yeshiva was an intensely intellectual and rigorous experience. It demanded precision, discipline, and deep engagement with text. At the same time, it did not feel embodied, or spiritually inspiring beyond the mind. Shortly after completing my Yeshiva studies, I spent a few months studying yoga philosophy in an ashram in South India. That offered a different kind of learning experience. Embodied, in open-air spaces, with sunlight, humidity, and the presence of the natural world. Beauty and environment were part of how learning happened, shaping how meaning was absorbed and lived. It really offered something that had been missing for me.
Art and ritual function similarly in communal settings. When beauty and design are present, ritual moves beyond cognition into experience. Music, visual form, space, and setting influence how people relate – to the practice, to one another, and to themselves. Beauty helps inspire connection.
This is something the mystics (Kabbalists) understood well. While the rabbis emphasized the study hall, the mystics emphasized direct experience – by streams, under trees, and in open fields. Judaism already holds immense beauty, shaped across lands and generations. When people can actually see and feel that beauty, it brings them toward one another – toward connection and community. As a scribe, a ritualist and a Ketubah artist, I aspire to make the age-old and timeless beauty embedded within Judaism, Jewish ritual, and communal life, more accessible.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Rachel.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Matthew Scillitani is a psychometrics practitioner at Neurolus Psychometrics focused on developing supervised, time-limited high-range ability examinations. He co-launched The Mental Inventor with Paul Cooijmans as an empirical testbed for a central measurement question: whether performances can be validly differentiated in the extreme right tail under proctored conditions. His approach emphasizes procedural integrity—identity verification, approved proctoring, and rule enforcement—alongside cautious claims about interpretation until reliability and validity evidence is established. He highlights emerging threats to unsupervised testing, including AI-assisted responding and large-scale collaboration, and advocates peer review before formal reclassification.
In this exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Matthew Scillitani about The Mental Inventor, a supervised, timed high-range ability exam designed to explore whether performance can be meaningfully differentiated at the extreme right tail under proctored conditions. Scillitani avoids claiming it measures “intelligence” until validity evidence exists, citing regulatory constraints and the need for peer review. He frames low reliability as a decisive falsifier, emphasizes supervision to deter AI and collaboration, and explains proctor approval and identity verification procedures. Scores are reported cautiously via a preliminary conversion table, with analyses planned as data accumulates.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What construct is the intended measure with The Mental Inventor?
Matthew Scillitani: Our long-term goal is to investigate whether performances can be validly differentiated in the extreme right tail under supervised, time-limited conditions. To avoid speculation, we should avoid saying that The Mental Inventor is intended to measure a psychological construct, though.
For context, in the United States, most states have laws prohibiting the unlicensed practice of psychology. Even non-clinical tests are within the scope of this very complex regulatory environment. So, we can’t prematurely make any claims about what a test may measure until there’s strong empirical evidence for that.
Jacobsen: What would empirically support this construct as measured by The Mental Inventor?
Scillitani: After enough exam sittings occur, we can start to perform meaningful data analyses, including calculating the correlations, like g loading. If analysis suggests that it measures intelligence with validity, findings will be peer reviewed before conclusions are published.
If Neurolus and its third-party peer reviewer agree that an exam functions well as an I.Q. test, it’ll be reclassified accordingly, and our testing procedures will change. For example, we’d no longer report scores directly to candidates. Where legally appropriate, scores would be released through a licensed psychologist or accepting high-I.Q. society.
Jacobsen: What would falsify it?
Scillitani: Low reliability would immediately falsify it. This is because a test’s reliability sets an upper bound on its correlations with anything else. For clarity, insufficient internal consistency suppresses the potential relationship a test could have with general intelligence.
An exam can also be highly reliable and still have a low g loading. In that case, it may just be measuring a task-specific, probably learned skill. We’ll better understand the validity and reliability after the validation study.
Jacobsen: Why specify the format as supervised and timed?
Scillitani: The primary reason is artificial intelligence. Some large language models are getting very smart, very fast. I’m expecting that unsupervised tests will be unusable in a decade because of this.
There’s also the growing problem of cheating by collaboration. Recently, I’ve learned of groups comprising tens to hundreds of members sharing or selling answers. While still possible, collaboration is more difficult on a supervised exam.
The exam’s duration was set at three hours for practical reasons. Not many proctors are willing to go longer than that, and probably many candidates wouldn’t either. In any case, an even longer time limit can be prohibitively expensive for many.
Jacobsen: What does time pressure add at the extreme right tail?
Scillitani: Time pressure introduces some strategy that’s mostly absent in untimed tests. For example, candidates have to determine whether they can solve an item, how long it’ll take, and whether it’s worth using their time on.
This requires the ability to anticipate subjective item difficulty, estimate time to solve, and manage limited time resources. Generally speaking, those types of decisions are probably g-loaded as well, but we shouldn’t speculate too much.
Jacobsen: What is the proctoring protocol?
Scillitani: This was the second-most challenging obstacle for this project. The exam was initially going to be released only in the United States using a network of community colleges, but we later decided to release it globally, requiring a different model.
Our solution was to have candidates find their own proctor, subject to approval. Acceptable proctors currently include libraries, universities, notaries, and private invigilators. Candidates submit their proposed proctors’ info before scheduling the exam, which I manually review and either approve or reject.
On exam day, the proctor verifies a candidate’s identity using their government-issued photo I.D. If identity can’t be verified, the sitting is cancelled.
Attempts will also be considered invalid if a candidate breaks any rules, like trying to bring unauthorized materials into the testing area.
Jacobsen: How are scores scaled and interpreted?
Scillitani: To avoid overstatement, we’ve published a preliminary score conversion table rather than a norms table. This is because we currently have very limited data and want to be cautious. The table maps raw scores from 0 to 40 into scaled scores ranging from 120 to 199. A formal norms table will be published later as more data comes in.
Regardless of validation status, we’ll never interpret scores, though. Candidates won’t be told that they’re “above average” or “gifted” or anything similar. Scores are only reported, not explained.
Jacobsen: What reliability evidence has been collected?
Scillitani: None as of yet; the exam launched only a few weeks ago at the time of writing. If the participation rate remains steady, the first statistical report is expected in late 2026. Then we’ll have our first idea about reliability.
Jacobsen: What is the likely eventual reliability and sensitivity to conditions?
Scillitani: At present, that’s unknown. Retesting isn’t permitted, so test-retest reliability can’t be calculated. We’ll instead have to rely on split-half reliability, which provides an indirect estimate by comparing performance across two halves of the test.
Proctor variability is a serious concern, and something I often think about. If certain types of proctors consistently fail to follow instructions, that group will be removed as an option, and those sittings may be invalidated to protect data integrity.
Jacobsen: How will you test whether this is g-loaded versus a specialist puzzle skill?
Scillitani: Through the validation process. If analysis suggests meaningful g-related variance, a peer reviewer will independently review the data to verify. If results aren’t significant yet, analyses will be repeated at predetermined data collection intervals.
In the end, if the exam only measures task-specific non-g puzzle skills, we’ll still publish that finding.
Jacobsen: How do you prevent prize-competition dynamics from contaminating results?
Scillitani: In practice, most candidates who attempt these types of exams are already intrinsically motivated. This is because there no serious external stakes in the conventional sense. For example, performance doesn’t affect whether you’ll get accepted by your dream university or employer.
Many candidates simply enjoy solving very challenging puzzle-like problems. Others may be motivated by the competition, but motivation is generally high in either case. And I suspect that the source of motivation is less meaningful than its presence.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Matthew.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Anonymous Indian in Ukraine, an Indian medical student who moved within Madhya Pradesh before leaving for Ukraine in 2020 due to high costs and intense competition for Indian medical seats. He describes Kharkiv’s diverse prewar life, then the shock of the February 24, 2022 invasion, shortages, and evacuation to Lviv amid overcrowded trains and failing infrastructure. He recounts moving through Poland to Germany with volunteer help, navigating refugee registration, language barriers, and work requirements. He later returned to Kharkiv for document renewal, enduring months of sirens, drones, and outages, while sustaining hope and study through faith.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let us start from the beginning. When were you born? In which city were you born? Did you move towns at any point during your youth in India?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: When I was in the eighth standard, I moved with my father to another city in central Madhya Pradesh. I lived there for a couple of years and then returned to the town where I was born. I completed high school, finished my examinations, and then left the country.
Jacobsen: What made Ukraine a desirable place for medical education?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: First, India has a vast population and intense competition. Many people want admission to government medical universities, but the number of seats is limited. Even if you pass the entrance exam with average marks, it is tough to secure a place in a government medical university. The alternative is private medical universities, which can cost around $60,000 to $70,000 for a six-year medical degree. For middle-class families, that amount is very high. As a result, students look to countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, and Uzbekistan, where MBBS programs can cost around 29,000 dollars. That is why we chose Ukraine.
Jacobsen: Did you travel through Odesa or Lviv? What was your route from India to Kharkiv?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: I travelled from India to Kyiv, then to Kharkiv.
Jacobsen: What year was that?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: It was 2020, about two years before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Jacobsen: How were things before the full-scale invasion?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Life was good. Kharkiv was a hub for students and business. You would see people from everywhere—Africans, Indians, Arabs, Egyptians, Koreans, and Chinese. The city was active and prosperous. There was significant economic activity at that time.
Jacobsen: What was your reaction when the full-scale invasion, what Russia called the “special military operation,” began?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: I was working part-time while continuing my studies. The night before the invasion, I remember seeing messaging suggesting there would be no war, and I believed it.
I was staying in a hostel. That night, a cleaning lady said that war would begin the next day. In the early hours of February 24, 2022, I heard the first explosion. People in the hostel began shouting that the war had started.
There were many Moroccan students in the hostel. My friends—Rahul and Amit—were shouting for everyone to wake up and leave, to escape toward Europe or anywhere safe. I did not expect it. I went to the window and saw smoke rising from the outskirts of Kharkiv.
At first, we thought it would be over within a couple of weeks. It was not. We waited. I stayed there from February 24 to March 9. Most of my friends left early. From February 25 onward, many international students and car owners left the city.
Everyone wanted to reach the train station, but it was nearly impossible because of the crowds. There were enormous numbers of people—thousands at once. You may have seen photos from Kharkiv showing this. It was tough. I stayed there overnight and waited.
Jacobsen: So you stayed there until March 9?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Yes, until March 9. I stayed in a private hostel. There was no food. Markets were empty. Near my hostel, there was an ATB supermarket, one of the largest food chains in Ukraine, but even there, almost nothing was available. There were no basic supplies—only some soft drinks like Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
Jacobsen: When did you finally leave?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: On March 9, I left Kharkiv, but it was not easy. Even that day, many people were still trying to leave—mostly Ukrainians. By that point, most international students had already gone. I had stayed because I thought the war might stop. I hoped it would end soon, but it did not. There was no food, and the situation was getting worse, so I decided to leave for another city. I only had a few packets of Maggi noodles left. That was all.
On March 9, I left my hostel. Outside, there were almost no people. It felt like a movie—like a real war film. The streets were empty. From February 24 to March 9, I watched from my window as Ukrainian soldiers checked roads and people. Some of them were women. They were guarding the city and checking documents.
I went to the railway station. There were almost no people outside, which made it frightening. At the station, there were no seats. Trains were completely overcrowded.
I used the little Ukrainian I knew at the time. I spoke to a family and asked if I could stay with them, saying I would be like a family member so that I could get on the train. One man agreed. He had three children and spoke some English. He helped me.
We travelled for about eight to nine hours by train from Kharkiv to Lviv. There was no water. Everyone had to stand—children, women, everyone—near the toilets for the entire journey.
We arrived in Lviv around 3:00 a.m. The station was full of people. At that time, I did not know that free food was available for those arriving.
I stood in line at a small market, but nothing worked. There was no electricity. Visa cards were not working. Banks were closed. ATMs did not work. There was no way to withdraw money. Toilets were also overwhelmed. Many people were sleeping inside the Lviv station.
It felt unreal—like living inside a war movie.
Jacobsen: At what point did you go to Germany? Can you walk me through what happened after that?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Yes, I went to Germany. After leaving Kharkiv and arriving in Lviv, I was looking for a way to leave Ukraine. No phone numbers were working, and no clear information. I approached an African man because I thought he might have contacts. He was standing with an Italian journalist, an editor.
I asked them where they were going. They said Poland. I decided to go with them. We stood in line for 4 to 5 hours, then paid for a taxi. It costs about €50 per person. There were four of us. The taxi took us from Lviv toward Poland, but not all the way to a significant city.
Once we arrived in Poland, the Italian journalist returned to Italy. The African man—he was a priest—went to Germany, and another person did too.
I stayed in Poland at first. I might work there for a short time and then return to Ukraine if the war ends. The war might end in a few months. I stayed for four days in a church near Kraków.
During that time, I spoke with a migration officer and asked whether I could study in Poland. They said it might be possible, but I did not understand the process or requirements. I did not know what to do next.
After four days, I called a contact from Italy and asked for advice. He told me that Germany would be a better option—that it would really help practically. So I decided to go to Germany.
When I arrived in Germany, it was tough at first because I had no money. Germany was much more expensive than Ukraine. I was at a Bahnhof—a train station—, and there were many German volunteers there. Civilian volunteers helped refugees.
They spoke with me, used websites where volunteers register to host people, and drove me in their own cars. I told them I had a friend at a specific address. They asked if I were sure the friend would help. I said yes. They took me there.
Later, I stayed in a refugee camp with Ukrainian refugees.
Jacobsen: Do you want to continue the story?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Yes. While I was travelling, I was with the African priest again. I asked him what would happen next because we had no money. He read the Bible often, even at night. He told me a story about the shepherd and the goats. He said that people are like the goats, and God is the shepherd who takes care of them. He told me not to worry—that God had already planned food, money, and safety for us.
Jacobsen: Do you identify as religious?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Yes, I do.
Jacobsen: Which religion?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: I follow Hare Krishna.
Jacobsen: For readers who may not know much about it, can you briefly explain the belief system—its texts, its leaders—or how it helped you during this time?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Yes, of course, it helped me. At that time, the African priest—he was Christian and had churches in the Ukraine—shared his beliefs with me. He repeated the shepherd-and-goats idea. He said that God is in control and that everything will be taken care of. He told me this while we were in Kraków, in a hotel. That stayed with me.
After that, I thought everything was planned, so I decided to go to another country. I went, and things unfolded that way.
Jacobsen: What do Hare Krishna followers believe, and how was that helpful for you?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: In the Hare Krishna tradition, there is a strong emphasis on mindset and intention. Lord Krishna teaches that a person’s thoughts, words, and actions matter. If you think positively and act rightly, things tend to move in a better direction.
There is a saying about being careful with your words. If you speak good things, good things follow. If you talk badly, negative things follow. During that time, I kept telling myself that everything would be okay, that people would help me, and that I would get permission to stay. I was worried because I come from a developing country and needed a visa to remain in Europe.
I also tried to understand things rationally, but I remembered what the Christian priest had told me and also relied on my own religious text. I had been carrying my book, the Bhagavad Gita, with me for more than seven years, along with my personal photos.
There is a critical moment I remember. I went to the Berlin registration center. Early in the morning—around noon—we stood in a long line with Ukrainian, Syrian, and Arab refugees. We completed registration, but afterward my companion was assigned to one city, and I to another. That scared me. Until then, he had helped me, and suddenly I was alone in Germany.
Germany felt overwhelming. I could not read the language, I did not understand the train or metro system, and I did not know where to go. I was terrified. He told me, “Just go. Everything will be fine.”
The registration center gave me a paper assigning me to another city, about eight to nine hours away from Berlin. The town was Karlsruhe. I travelled there by regional train.
I did not have cash. At one point, I asked a German man for help. He asked if I needed food or chocolate. I said no, but I needed to reach my destination. He told me which bus to take and explained that it was free. That is how I reached the registration center in Karlsruhe.
At the center, a staff member—who turned out to be from Pakistan—checked my bag. He noticed my book and asked where I was from. When I said India, he smiled and told me everything would be okay. That gave me some relief.
I was then placed in a refugee camp. I spoke some Ukrainian, so I helped with communication. We waited there for about four months while documents were checked.
After that, I received permission to live and work in Germany, and I was also allowed to study. However, there was a requirement: I had to learn German to B2 level, which is a high academic standard.
I realized that learning German to that level could take years, and I might lose the chance to study medicine during that time. So instead of relying on government assistance, I chose to work. I worked in warehouse jobs and supported myself. I worked continuously for about two years.
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: After two years, I went back to the registration center and asked what would happen next. I told them to look at my history over those two years—how I worked, followed the rules, avoided trouble, and respected the country. I asked what options I had.
They told me that I would need to leave. I said that was okay. They also told me that in the future I could return to Germany on a work visa or as a specialist. So there is still hope that I may go back one day.
Jacobsen: When you returned to Kharkiv, were you effectively stuck there again for about 9 months?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: Yes. When the war began, our documents were temporary. Residency permits were issued for limited periods, and mine needed to be renewed. I stayed in Kharkiv to restore it.
Ukrainian government workers do their jobs well, but during the war, it was tough. Bombings and air-raid sirens happened constantly. Sirens could last for hours, day and night. As a result, government offices could not operate normally. Banks were often closed. It was not safe for people to work.
As a result, processes that generally take a few months stretched to about 9 months. During that time, life was tough. Almost every night, I could see drones outside my window. Ukrainian air defences would respond, and you would hear explosions. Electricity and water were often unavailable. In 2024, there were periods with no water for three to four days. I bought bottled water and even used it for bathing. I could manage only because I had some money. Without it, I do not know how I would have survived.
Nights were the hardest. Attacks often happened around 11 p.m. or midnight. You could not go outside after 9 p.m. The streets were dark. Shops were closed. People stayed in their rooms. There was no light at night.
Jacobsen: And once the paperwork was finally processed?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: I contacted a friend and asked if there was anything I could do or anywhere I could stay. My university is still there, and my academic records are there as well. For now, I continue studying on my own.
My friend invited me to stay with him in another city so I could sleep safely. In Kharkiv, sleeping was tough. People still live there, but it is tough. I have a friend who has lived in Kharkiv since the beginning of the war—even during the occupation—and still lives there now because he loves the city.
Kharkiv is a beautiful city. It is spotless, one of the cleanest cities I have seen. The people are very kind. Kharkiv helped me a lot.
Jacobsen: What is your plan now?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: I try to think positively. Something good will come. I know English, but English alone is not enough here. English is functional in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but here it does not help much.
I know Ukrainian, and I understand some Lithuanian. Now I want to learn a language that has more impact in Europe. I am thinking about the Dutch.
I continue learning languages and studying medical subjects on my own. I am in contact with my university, and they have my records. I am asking about the available options. That is my plan for now.
Jacobsen: Any final words? A line from that helped you through these moments?
Anonymous Indian in Ukraine: There is a saying I like: The best actor is given the most challenging role.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Claus D. Volko, M.D. (born 1983) is an Austrian software engineer and medical scientist in Vienna. He holds degrees in medicine (M.D.), medical informatics (B.Sc.) and computational intelligence (M.Sc.). In the demoscene he is known as “Adok” and served as main editor of the electronic magazine Hugi. Volko formulated Symbiont Conversion Theory in 2018. He founded and leads the Prudentia High IQ Society, and joined Mensa in 2002. In 2018 he published “Volko Personality Patterns,” a Jungian-inspired extension of MBTI typology. In 2025 he posted “Reprogramming Bacteria for Symbiont Conversion: A Review” on Prudentia’s blog, and maintains Prudentia’s journal and blog.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Claus D. Volko, M.D., an Austrian medical scientist and software engineer, on his Symbiont Conversion Theory, published in Biomed Sci Clin Res in 2025. Volko describes minimum viable experiments involving bacterial gene propagation and bacteriophages as decisive tests for implementation. He frames “conversion” as biological reprogramming rather than eradication, deliberately perturbing evolutionary trajectories to confront antimicrobial resistance, citing tuberculosis as a plausible target. Extending the framework to oncology, Volko defines a tumor symbiont as a reprogrammed, functional cell. Ethical implications are explicit: microbes should not be killed. He dismisses placebo relevance, critiques medicine’s conservatism relative to engineering.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Symbiont Conversion Theory was ultimately published in Biomed Sci Clin Res in March, 2025. What would you consider the minimum viable experimental result to justify the foundational scientific theory more?
Claus Volko: I proposed two experiments in the paper Reprogramming Bacteria for Symbiont Conversion – A Review. One is about the spreading of genetic modifications in a bacterial population, the other about bacteriophages. If both experiments prove successful, I think there will be no obstacles to implementing symbiont conversion.
Jacobsen: In Reprogramming Bacteria for Symbiont Conversion – A Review, you broaden symbiont conversion to reprogramming. Can you elaborate, please?
Volko: Reprogramming is just another term for reeducating. I used both terms interchangeably in the original publication.
Jacobsen: Your theory is partly motivated by the failure modes of destroy and kill. How do you think about evolutionary stability?
Volko: Stability is not intended, as I am trying to perturbate the evolution.
Jacobsen: Antimicrobial resistance is a key motivating problem. If you had to pick one infectious disease target where conversion is strategically sane, which is it?
Volko: For example tuberculosis. But there are many examples.
Jacobsen: Tumors are ecosystems. What is a good operational definition of a tumor cell becoming a symbiont?
Volko: If a tumor is reprogrammed back to a normal, functional cell, then it has become a symbiont.
Jacobsen: Symbiont Conversion Theory has an ethical dimension, i.e., microbes may have moral status. What is the practical implication of this?
Volko: Simply that you do not kill them.
Jacobsen: What modern clinical trial design would you accept as a clean test that separates placebo from real effects?
Volko: I do not think that symbiont conversion has a placebo effect.
Jacobsen: Why is medicine less tolerant culturally than engineering?
Volko: Because it attracts more conservative people.
Jacobsen: You take an interest in the community of the Mega Foundation and Mr. Christopher Michael Langan’s CTMU. Does any of your work metaphysically/theologically align, as such?
Volko: As far as I know, symbiont conversion is not related to the CTMU.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Claus.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Rabbi Sarah Hronsky is Senior Rabbi of Temple Beth Hillel, serving since July 2003 after ordination at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. She holds master’s degrees in Hebrew Letters and Jewish Communal Service and is a Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative. She is the President of the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders and Immediate Past President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California. Honored with the 2023 Los Angeles Pioneer Women Award, she focuses on interfaith dialogue and social justice, including homelessness, and serves on the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry Board.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Rabbi Sarah Hronsky, Senior Rabbi of Temple Beth Hillel, about durable interfaith cooperation and service amid polarization. Hronsky says durability grows from shared moral commitments—loving the neighbor and the stranger—and from showing up repeatedly for honest dialogue. She critiques misconceptions that reduce believers to denominational caricatures. Grounding hunger and homelessness work in Torah and rabbinic tradition, she describes practical adaptations: discreet deliveries, expanded pantry hours, multi-faith distribution partnerships, and joint training and action. Hartman learning, she adds, strengthened pluralism and provided a supportive cohort. For navigating antisemitism, fear, and stress with compassion.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What makes interfaith cooperation durable?
Rabbi Sarah Hronsky: While challenges are easily identifiable, so is the common base that faith leaders share. We hold tightly to binding morality, based on creating a just world. This often means lifting shared values such as loving one’s neighbor, caring for the widow, the stranger, the orphan—the most vulnerable. Centering oneself in space of wholeness and completeness in order to bring this to the larger community around. While issues may pull us apart, and the tensions in political divides and polarization are very real, we can usually unite and bridge together over preservation and well-being of humanity.
Jacobsen: What are common misunderstandings faith communities have about each other?
Hronsky: Faith communities, like the rest of the population, can get caught up in assuming that because you are x you must fully believe y. All too often it is assumed that the overarching denomination sets the beliefs of all the individuals and this is simply untrue. For example, because one identifies as Jewish, they must hate Palestinians. Because you are white and Christian, you must believe in all that White Christian Nationalists believe including xenophobia and the domination of men over women. Because you are Catholic, you must be pro-life and anti-choice. One’s faith is a significant part of their identity, but no single person is all one direction or another. Our faith may drive or provide the foundation for our choices, but it does not dictate all. There is also the divide created between those who identify with faith and those who do not. Assuming one is better than the other, or one is more zealous, misconstrues matters.
Jacobsen: How do you connect Jewish teaching and tradition to work on hunger and homelessness?
Hronsky: Thirty-six times (the Talmud states perhaps thirty-seven times) we are commanded to care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. These categories indicate the most vulnerable, the most marginalized in society—the ones for whom access to food and shelter would be most limited. We are also taught in the Holiness Code in Leviticus to “love our neighbor as we would wish to be loved ourselves,” and a few verses later to “love the stranger” similarly (Leviticus 19). This is not about emotional love; rather, love is demonstrated by actions of care. Food, shelter, and access to medical care are precisely these kinds of responsibilities and endeavors.
For the neighbor and the stranger alike, we are commanded to provide for their needs—whether they are individuals I know, individuals from the same community, or strangers geographically, ethnically, religiously, etc. Each person, no matter their background, is deserving to be cared for equally, in the same manner that I would wish to be cared for.
Our sages taught that when establishing a Jewish community we are obligated to create a kuppah—a charity fund that it is mandatory to give to each week, with several individuals overseeing its distribution to those in need (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 17b; Mishneh Torah 9:13). Thus, while a house of study, a house of worship, and a place for burial are essential components of establishing a Jewish community, right alongside these core elements exists a command to care for all in the community. Providing food and advocating for the unhoused is exactly what my faith demands of me.
A further example comes from Deuteronomy 24:19–21:
“When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—in order that your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat down the fruit of your olive trees, do not go over them again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick it over again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.”
While there are 613 commandments for the Jewish people, caring for others—shared humanity, and knowing that each human being was created in the image of God—compels me to live the value of providing for the most vulnerable as best I can. The world can be hard, and the tasks to repair it overwhelming. By supporting and working in the food pantry, I can take one small action to live my faith and my values, and to bring about a spark of hope and light.
In Pirkei Avot we read: “Rabbi Tarfon said: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.” I will not be able to end hunger or homelessness, but I also cannot ignore it.
Jacobsen: As President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, what trends are you seeing in community needs?
Hronsky: This is a little tricky for me to answer. The trends I see around increasing hunger and the growing needs of the greater community are not necessarily related to the work I have done, or continue to do, with the Board of Rabbis.
I have had many conversations with interfaith leaders about the expanding needs at our food pantries, particularly for people who fear going to work or fear ICE raids. Our work has changed dramatically. Last week, during a Zoom meeting with the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders, we each identified where need has increased and how we have adapted to meet it. For example, some pantries have shifted to food delivery rather than in-person distribution. In one case, a truck drops food at a private neighborhood location, and an individual quietly distributes it to those who would typically come to the pantry.
Another religious group has significantly increased its food supply—by thousands of pounds—which is now delivered to distribution partners in the downtown area. Yet another has linked a frozen-meal service within the Jewish community to a variety of service partners, many from multiple faiths, for broader distribution. Another group identified a new resource and asked that its link be shared more widely: a program that pays street vendors, who are afraid to be out on the streets, to prepare food safely at home, which is then provided to the unhoused through drop-in centers.
Still another faith partner shared that they extended their food-pantry hours, offering only a few small distribution slots at a time so that no recipient is left standing in a line and vulnerable to ICE activity. On and on, adaptations and ideas have been shared and then adopted. This is partnership—working together to respond to increasing needs.
Jacobsen: How do you keep interfaith spaces safe and honest?
Hronsky: I might need clarity on the question, as I am not certain I am able to answer in a manner that fully addresses what you are interested in. What I can say is that, during this particularly polarized time, I have found that continuing to come to the table—and continuing to offer respectful spaces for individuals to share their narratives—matters. No matter how hard it is, coming together again and again makes a difference in seeing the other as human.
In addition, literally doing the work together as much as possible makes a difference. Continuing to bring individuals of different faiths into shared spaces allows for humanizing rather than demonizing. This happens, for example, through shared community work on distribution days at the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry. It is difficult to make sweeping claims about this faith or that faith when you know that the person who identifies with x faith is a good person, someone caring for others, someone you laugh with while sorting food, packing bags for those in need, or working the car line together to make sure another person does not go hungry.
The same is true when we bring groups together for training in nonviolent demonstration and then march side by side, crying out against the brutality of ICE and demanding the release of individuals from detention centers. Honest work, honest conversation, and honest gathering matter.
On Sunday, I joined the AME Church’s Founder’s Day celebration with a few other interfaith leaders, where we worshipped together and learned from Stacey Abrams. Gathering in a traditionally Black church, learning side by side, and being welcomed into their space allows me to honor their truth, grow from it, and deepen allyship.
There are many other examples. On Friday, February 6, several interfaith leaders—Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, and others—will participate in a Habitat for Humanity build. We choose to swing hammers, wield paint brushes, and help a specific family and community, all while growing in friendship and partnership. I have also been part of a group planning a significant gathering in March of religious leaders from across Los Angeles to come together in conversation, learning, and action. The title of the event is A Multi-Faith Response to the Current Constitutional Crisis.
Creating spaces to learn, to listen, and to act allows us to keep showing up for one another. Do I always feel safe in every space? No. Do I keep coming back? Yes. If I am not at the table, my voice will disappear.
Jacobsen: What did the Shalom Hartman leadership experience change for you during polarization or rising antisemitism?
Hronsky: I am currently not studying at the Shalom Hartman Institute. However, the foundation it provided taught me to be more pluralistic in my thinking and gave me a vast cohort of individuals across North America and Israel to reach out to at any time. I learned to work closely with—and to be open-minded enough to learn from—Jews whose observance differs from mine and whose understanding of what it means to be Jewish also differs from mine. The Shalom Hartman Institute continues to step into the fray of breaking down walls of polarization through several podcast series and in-person learning opportunities. It is a strong model for engaging in complex dialogue around complex issues.
Jacobsen: What have you learned about service delivery that you did not learn in seminary?
Hronsky: Seminary is a wonderful builder of foundations and learning blocks. However, most of what I have learned about being in service to others comes from my upbringing in a Jewish home that taught everyone to participate in making a better community—everyone must give back to help others. That grounding was further strengthened by being welcomed into a synagogue pulpit deeply steeped in social justice and action. For the past 23 years, I have grown and learned alongside my congregants and my movement, continually finding ways to remain in service.
Jacobsen: What would you most want secular readers to understand about faith-based interfaith work?
Hronsky: While each person’s individual efforts make a difference in healing and repairing our world, those efforts are uplifted and can become more impactful when we include others. While faith may be an important driver of the service work we do, interfaith efforts—and working alongside those who do not identify with any faith—can increase our impact and bring us closer together. Interfaith work helps us build bridges, recognize how much more alike than different we are, and engage with one another’s shared humanity.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Sarah.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Irina Tsukerman, a national security and human rights attorney, about ethical and legal concerns surrounding Donald Trump Jr.’s business and political activities. Tsukerman distinguishes verified facts from speculation, addressing conflicts of interest tied to Trump-family business arrangements, Don Jr.’s role at 1789 Capital, and his appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum. She clarifies misconceptions about World Cup security, emphasizing U.S.-led law enforcement. The discussion expands to access-peddling, comparisons to Hunter Biden, and a $10 billion tax-return lawsuit, before concluding with Tsukerman’s critique of revived “Russiagate” narratives as a political distraction.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: This is a special session on Donald Trump Jr., one of the children of Donald Trump. He is a prominent surrogate and senior figure associated with the Trump business and political brand. He has had visible interactions with Gulf-region business and policy circles. I am not aware of credible public reporting that links him to Jeffrey Epstein-related files. First, what business or financial relationships raise ethical or national-security concerns? Second, what is his connection to soccer and the World Cup? Third, what is the real situation regarding any Qatari security or policing role connected to significant events in the United States?
Irina Tsukerman: A few issues warrant separation. First, the Trump family’s business arrangements during Trump’s presidency have repeatedly raised conflict-of-interest concerns because they were not structured as a traditional blind trust. In 2017, reporting emphasized that the business would be run by his adult sons rather than placed into a blind trust, which ethics experts said did not meet the usual standard. In 2025, the Trump Organization again stated that Trump would not manage day-to-day operations and that assets would be placed in a trust managed by his children, alongside internal ethics measures; critics have continued to debate whether such arrangements sufficiently prevent conflicts of interest.
Second, Don Jr. has a documented business relationship with banker Omeed (also spelled “Omid”) Malik. Malik co-founded 1789 Capital, and Don Jr. joined it in a business capacity. In May 2025, both appeared as speakers at the Qatar Economic Forum in a session titled “Investing in America,” according to the forum’s published program. This is distinct from the Doha Forum and from a panel titled “Monetizing MAGA,” which has been incorrectly cited elsewhere.
Third, regarding the World Cup and claims about “Qatari policing,” public reporting indicates that U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies will lead security for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. There has also been reporting that U.S. officials travelled to Qatar to observe or discuss security practices used during the 2022 World Cup. That exchange does not indicate that Qatari security forces will police events in the United States.
The defensible fact pattern, therefore, is: recurring conflict-of-interest concerns regarding Trump-family business arrangements; Don Jr.’s business ties with Malik and their appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum; and U.S.-led World Cup security planning that includes limited international information-sharing.
Jacobsen: In late 2025, there were meetings at a law firm connected to a high-profile public inquiry involving senior officials. This raised questions about whether the issue was access-peddling. Not foreign financial influence or foreign security forces, where domestic ones would suffice, but the abuse of proximity to power. Someone meets a prominent figure, does not distinguish themselves, and then presents themselves as a close associate to gain credibility or leverage. Second, there was a lawsuit over leaked tax returns. Don Jr. is a plaintiff alongside the President and others. The suit targets the IRS and the Treasury over the prior disclosure of Trump’s tax information. It has been a prominent legal headline, though less prominently in the public eye. The damages sought are reportedly around $10 billion. You are the lawyer—that sounds enormous to me.
Tsukerman: On the first point, that fits the definition of influence-peddling. A commonly cited analogy is Hunter Biden: benefiting from his father’s status to obtain access or roles for which he was arguably unqualified, while also creating the perception of access to his father for others.
Critics argue that Don Jr. is engaging in a similar pattern—leveraging familial proximity to power. Many of the same voices who were intensely focused on Hunter Biden have been comparatively silent here. That inconsistency is notable.
This raises serious ethical concerns and apparent conflicts of interest. Whether or not it is illegal in a narrow statutory sense, it is deeply problematic, and there appears to be little institutional effort to restrain it. Instead, many actors seem willing to benefit from it.
On the second issue, the tax-return lawsuit raises another conflict-of-interest concern. At the time of the alleged disclosures, Trump was President and had authority over the relevant agencies. Critics argue that seeking massive damages from agencies he oversaw creates the appearance of self-dealing.
The scale of the claim—around $10 billion—appears disproportionate to the established harm. Courts found internal violations, but that does not automatically justify damages of that magnitude. I would be surprised if a jury deemed such a figure reasonable.
Regardless of the outcome, the litigation consumes public resources. It is a distraction from substantive policy issues and does little to enhance institutional credibility. Transparency from the outset would have avoided much of this.
Jacobsen: Those are strong points. I am doing one more quick check. The primary references were Gibraltar, Greenland, Doha, and Mr. Malik. The others date back much earlier, including the 2016 Trump Tower meeting.
Tsukerman: One narrative that never seems to expire is what Trump now calls the “Russiagate hoax,” which he has revived in recent social-media posts.
Jacobsen: What do you mean?
Tsukerman: Trump has claimed on Truth Social that President Obama’s alleged support for the Russia investigation in 2016 ultimately cost Trump the 2020 election, and that Obama interfered illegally. The fact that it is now 2026 and we are still debating events from a decade ago is striking—especially since the Russian effort to interfere in U.S. elections was well documented. Several Trump campaign associates were convicted or imprisoned, and Russian operatives left the United States following investigations.
Whatever label one applies, those events were not fictitious. The renewed framing appears intended to deflect attention from Trump’s current dealings with Russia, including his stated interest in doing business with a country engaged in an internationally condemned war.
That this reframing raises few questions among his most vocal defenders suggests a profound detachment from documented reality. It raises a broader question: how far can political loyalty stretch before blatant falsehoods become untenable?
Jacobsen: That is a strong place to end. Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Irina.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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In this exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks Rick Rosner about striking ratios in physics that appear across vastly different scales. Rosner points to large-number disparities, such as the enormous strength difference between electromagnetism and gravity at the particle level, and contrasts microscopic lengths with the scale of the observable universe. He cautions against misapplied figures, noting that some famous numbers belong to entirely different physical contexts. While no single cosmic object strikes him as anomalous, Rosner emphasizes unresolved questions about cosmic maturity, heavy-element origins, and the nature of time. He ultimately frames time as closely tied to information flow, arguing that our lack of a rigorous definition of information remains one of physics’ deepest gaps.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Are there any unusual symmetries that you notice in ratios among distinct, classified objects in the universe? One example we used previously was the electron–proton mass ratio. Are there other ratios that stand out in a way that is not as straightforward as a simple commutative math statement like one plus one equals two?
Rick Rosner: For instance, consider how vastly stronger electromagnetism is than gravity at the particle scale. For an electron and a proton, the electromagnetic force is roughly 10³⁶ times stronger than the gravitational force. Similar “large-number” magnitudes show up in other comparisons. For example, the proton’s Compton wavelength is about 1.3 × 10⁻¹⁵ meters. Compared to the diameter of the observable universe, on the order of 10²⁷ meters, the ratio is around 10⁴¹–10⁴², not 10⁸⁰. A figure near 10⁸⁰ is more commonly associated with estimates of the number of baryons in the observable universe, not with this length ratio.
When the universe is better understood, those ratios will still exist. Some arise directly from known physics; others may reflect deeper structure we do not yet understand.
Jacobsen: Is there one ratio or one object at cosmic scale that seems especially odd to you? For a long time, before results from the Large Hadron Collider, the Standard Model of particle physics was missing its final predicted particle: the Higgs boson. The Higgs was popularly dubbed the “God particle” in the media, a label aimed at broad public appeal rather than scientific accuracy.
The Higgs boson mattered because its discovery in 2012 confirmed the Higgs mechanism’s role in the Standard Model. The Higgs boson itself is not widely distributed in space; it is a short-lived particle created in high-energy collisions. What is pervasive in the theory is the Higgs field, not the particle.
In a similar way, are there other large-scale structures—superclusters, filaments, or large cosmic voids—that intrigue you? Excluding quantum vacuum energy, are there regions or structures that have held your attention over time?
Rosner: At the moment, nothing comes to mind. I am distracted this evening.
I do not know enough about the universe to confidently identify what might be anomalous. Nothing strikes me as inherently odd based on my current understanding. There are anomalies and open problems that do not fit neatly into the simplest Big Bang–based cosmological models, and we have talked about those extensively.
There may be objects that appear surprisingly mature for their era in cosmic history. There are also open questions about where heavy elements, such as gold, come from in the quantities we observe. We should talk about that article.
I sent you a piece that was poorly titled, suggesting that time might not be real. Time is real, and even those arguments typically concede that. The real issue is that in some formulations of fundamental physics, time does not appear in the usual way in the equations. The authors propose a relationship between time and information. That general direction is not wrong, although some of their conclusions are overstated.
Their general idea—that time is related primarily to an increase in information in the universe—is something I agree with. They propose a fairly elaborate mechanism in which information regulates the scale of space. I agree with the core idea, although I think they probably overcomplicate it.
The basic claim is that space—specifically the curvature of space—is determined by what happens to information as it flows through it. In very simple terms, the irreversibility we associate with the arrow of time has a great deal to do with the fact that almost every photon in the universe is a long-distance photon, traveling for billions of years across billions of light-years.
As those photons lose energy to the curvature of space, space itself relaxes, producing the effect we describe as an expanding universe. In that sense, the article reinforces a point I have made before: we still do not have a good handle on what information actually is.
We have intuitive definitions. Information is often described as the answer to a question, defined within a context. There is a sports game; before it is played, the outcome is unknown. When the game ends, the final score answers the question. The context is clear—it is a game.
When it comes to information in a cosmological or physical sense—what information is, how it behaves, and how it structures the universe—we do not yet have a rigorous definition. That understanding is still missing.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Rabbi Joel Thal Simonds is the founding Executive Director of the Jewish Center for Justice (JCJ) in Los Angeles, advancing social-justice education, leadership development, and community-rooted action for a wide Jewish public. Ordained at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, he previously served as West Coast Legislative Director for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and as Associate Rabbi at University Synagogue. He has also served as Rabbi of the Synagogue at HUC-LA and is the founding President Partnership for Growth LA, a Black–Jewish community development corporation focused on cooperative development and wellbeing. He links Torah, policy, and practice. He also serves on the clergy team of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Rabbi Joel Thal Simonds, founding Executive Director of the Jewish Center for Justice in Los Angeles, about tzedakah as a binding ethic of justice rather than voluntary charity. Rabbi Joel Thal Simonds grounds the concept in tzedek and the Torah’s “justice, justice you shall pursue,” arguing that obligation must be pursued with compassion and fair process. He defines dignity as systemic change beyond temporary relief, rejects “deservingness” tests, and emphasizes confidentiality as respect. He also describes how legislation, digital giving, and lean institutions can expand participation and build durable, community-rooted solutions.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How do you frame tzedakah as justice, not optional charity?
Rabbi Joel Thal Simonds: Tzedakah is often misunderstood as solely charity because, in modern Jewish life, it’s frequently associated with fundraising for those in need. I remember bringing my “tzedakah money” to Hebrew school each week. But the root of the word tzedakah is tzedek, which means justice. One of the Torah’s most foundational teachings comes from Deuteronomy. It says “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” which means justice, justice you shall pursue. This is the proof text for the Jewish commitment to justice. Tzedakah is not optional generosity; it is a moral obligation rooted in our tradition.
Jacobsen: What does dignity mean in tzedakah?
Simonds: For me, dignity means moving beyond temporary fixes. It’s not about offering a small gesture to ease discomfort while leaving the underlying system intact. True dignity comes from changing systems so that people can live without constant need or fear, and where they have a real chance at stability and opportunity.
Jacobsen: Where do you draw the boundaries between tzedakah, gemilut chasadim, and tikkun olam?
Simonds: I don’t see these as separate categories that need rigid boundaries. Rather, they are meant to be integrated into a larger vision of the world. Justice must be pursued with kindness and compassion. When we go back and read from the Torah, we are asked why tzedek is mentioned twice. The answer is that the ancient rabbis taught that we must pursue justice justly. We cannot focus solely on outcomes, but on how we get there, with care and humanity.
Jacobsen: Who is responsible for what, e.g., individual givers, congregations, federations, nonprofits, and the state?
Simonds: Everyone has a responsibility to give time and resources to help those in need. But at the Jewish Center for Justice, where I serve as Executive Director, we focus heavily on legislation and public policy because injustice and inequality are too large to be addressed by individuals and nonprofits alone. Our government, and by extension our elected leaders, have a crucial role to play in addressing systemic harm and creating lasting change.
Jacobsen: What are common power failures in communal funds?
Simonds: Any organization, whether nonprofit or for-profit, can experience power failures. As institutions grow larger, priorities can pull in different directions, decision-making can slow, and resources can become less responsive to the needs of the people they are meant to serve. This isn’t unique to Jewish communal life; it’s a challenge across the professional world.
At JCJ, we were intentionally designed to be lean, values-driven, and accountable to our community. That structure allows us to act quickly, respond to urgent moments, and ensure that resources are directed toward real impact rather than bureaucracy. Staying close to the people on the ground, from our fellows to our partners to the communities we serve, helps us guard against the kinds of power imbalances that can emerge when institutions lose sight of their purpose.
Jacobsen: How should communities balance emergency relief with long-term self-sufficiency?
Simonds: Jewish communities are often very strong at emergency response, and that is something to be proud of. We have built infrastructures that allow people to step up in moments of crisis. But too often, we move from one emergency to the next without addressing the deeper causes and systems. Issues like poverty, hunger, and homelessness are treated as isolated crises when they are actually intertwined and baked into our society. The affordability crisis, in particular, is an emergency that demands systemic solutions, not just short-term relief.
Jacobsen: How do you handle deservingness and confidentiality?
Simonds: For me, this question goes directly back to dignity. Judaism rejects the idea that people must prove they are “deserving” of care. If someone is in need, they are deserving. The moment we begin ranking worthiness, we undermine the very justice we claim to pursue.
Confidentiality is part of that same moral obligation. People in need deserve autonomy and respect, just as much as those offering support. Protecting identities isn’t about secrecy; it’s about ensuring that help does not come at the cost of shame, exposure, or loss of agency. At its best, tzedakah affirms a person’s humanity by meeting material needs and by honoring their dignity in the process.
Jacobsen: How are digital giving and public policy reshaping tzedakah?
Simonds: Digital tools and policy advocacy have expanded who gets to participate in the work of justice, and that is a good thing. What once required access, time, or proximity is now available to far more people. These tools have broadened our coalitions and allow more individuals to engage meaningfully in giving and advocacy. The work of justice is no longer limited to a few, but something many people can participate in.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Joel.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Sharmiin (also spelled Sharmin) Meymandinejad is an Iranian human rights defender, writer, and theatre artist who founded the Imam Ali’s Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS) in 1999 to combat poverty and support vulnerable children and families. Iranian authorities arrested him in 2020 and charged him with “insulting” Iran’s leaders amid a broader crackdown on independent civil society; he was held for months, including time in solitary confinement, and reportedly denied medical care. After sustained pressure, IAPSRS was ordered dissolved. Now in exile, Meymandinejad speaks on repression, public executions, social trust, and civilian harm from sanctions and war, through grassroots work.
In conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Sharmiin Meymandinejad describes Iran’s crisis as the repression of daily life rather than episodic protest control. She rejects state claims of “security,” arguing that fear-based governance destroys social trust and wounds society across generations. Meymandinejad warns that silence by the international community amounts to complicity. On the risk of war between Iran and the United States, she stresses that civilians—not governments—would pay the price through poverty, displacement, and institutional collapse. War, she argues, entrenches authoritarianism rather than liberating societies. Her message centers on dignity, de-escalation, and solidarity with ordinary people on all sides.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Sharmiin Meymandinejad, you have spent years working closely with marginalized communities in Iran. How do you describe the current repression of the Iranian people?
Sharmiin Meymandinejad: What we are witnessing is not merely the suppression of protests; it is the suppression of everyday life. When teachers, workers, women, students, and even children are met with fear instead of protection, this is no longer a political issue—it is a profound human rights crisis.
Jacobsen: Authorities justify these actions under the banner of “maintaining security.” How do you respond to that claim?
Meymandinejad: Security built on fear is not security. Genuine security is rooted in human dignity. When citizens are arrested, beaten, or killed for expressing pain or demanding basic rights, it reveals a state that fears its people rather than serves them.
Jacobsen: What impact has this repression had on Iranian society as a whole?
Meymandinejad: Repression destroys social trust. A society that is denied the right to speak slowly collapses from within. Violence does not only break bodies—it wounds the collective psyche of a nation, and those wounds are passed down through generations.
Jacobsen: What responsibility does the international community bear in this situation?
Meymandinejad: Silence is not neutrality; it is complicity. The people of Iran are not statistics. Every moment of inaction emboldens further repression. Genuine international responsibility means standing with the people—not bargaining over their suffering.
Jacobsen: What is your message to the people of Iran?
Meymandinejad: You are not alone, even when isolation is imposed upon you. History shows that no system sustained by repression endures forever. Human dignity cannot be crushed. The future belongs to those who continue to stand—for life, for truth, and for one another
Jacobsen: Sharmiin Meymandinejad, tensions between Iran and the United States are rising again. How serious do you believe the risk of war is?
Meymandinejad: Whenever diplomacy is sidelined and threats replace dialogue, the risk of war becomes real. But it is crucial to say this clearly: war is not the choice of the Iranian people, nor the American people. It is the outcome of political deadlocks and power calculations, and civilians always pay the price.
Jacobsen: If a war were to occur, what would be the most immediate impact on the people of Iran?
Meymandinejad: The Iranian people are already living under immense pressure. War would mean deeper poverty, the collapse of healthcare and education systems, internal displacement, and civilian casualties. For a society already wounded by sanctions and repression, war would be a multilayered humanitarian disaster.
Jacobsen: Some argue that war could weaken the ruling system in Iran. How do you respond to that view?
Meymandinejad: History shows that war rarely brings freedom. More often, it strengthens authoritarian control, legitimizes repression, and crushes civil society. Sustainable change comes from the will of the people—not from bombs or missiles.
Jacobsen: What would be the consequences of such a conflict for the region and the world?
Meymandinejad: A war between Iran and the United States would not remain contained. Regional destabilization, energy crises, new waves of refugees, and the expansion of proxy violence are likely outcomes. The world today needs de-escalation, not another devastating conflict.
Jacobsen: What role should the international community play in preventing this scenario?
Meymandinejad: The international community must distinguish clearly between governments and people. Targeted pressure, genuine support for human rights, and meaningful diplomatic channels are essential. Silence or support for war is a betrayal of peace and of civilians on both sides.
Jacobsen: Finally, what is your message to the people of Iran and the United States?
Meymandinejad: The real enemy of ordinary people is war itself, not one another. Iranians and Americans share the same hopes: safety, dignity, and a future without fear. Peace is not weakness—it is the only path that saves human lives.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Sharmiin.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Gayathri Narayanan is the founder and meditation teacher at Myndtree, where she integrates mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom teachings into modern life. Since 1995, she has explored contemplative traditions including Advaita Vedanta, Theravada, Zen, and Dzogchen Buddhism, grounding her work in both disciplined practice and everyday application. Formerly a leader in healthcare technology, she transitioned from corporate life to full-time teaching and service. Trained in mindfulness meditation with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, and in nonviolent parenting through Echo Parenting & Education, Gayathri brings a secular, inclusive approach to mindfulness, parenting, and well-being for individuals, families, and organizations.
In this exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks Gayathri Narayanan, founder of Myndtree, who is most likely to become a spiritual seeker. Drawing on the Bhagavad Gita, Narayanan outlines four types of seekers: those driven by suffering, intellectual curiosity, material desire, and the pursuit of wisdom. She explains how disillusionment with pleasure, early life catalysts, or a hunger for understanding can initiate the search. By contrast, non-seekers are not deficient, but simply content within everyday aims. Narayanan likens seeking to scientific inquiry, noting parallels between figures like Einstein and the Buddha, and emphasizes that wisdom-seeking—liberation through understanding—is held as the highest motivation.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: This is semi-facetious and semi-serious: who is likely to be a seeker?
Gayathri Narayanan: Who is likely to be a seeker? There are different kinds of seekers. There is even a classification in the Bhagavad Gita. Some people come to this path because of suffering—because they experience loss and pain. That suffering brings up questions such as, “Why am I suffering?” “How can I be free of this?” “What is this world really about?”
When people become disillusioned with the constant pull toward pleasure-seeking—always chasing the next thing that promises happiness—they eventually notice that the pleasure fades quickly and dissatisfaction returns. At some point, that cycle loses its hold. People become disenchanted and make a kind of U-turn, asking more fundamental questions: “Who am I?” “What is all this?”
That is one group: people drawn to practice because of suffering (dukkha). Another group consists of seekers of knowledge—intellectually curious people. They may begin by reading about Advaita, attending talks, or encountering a teacher. Something resonates, and they feel drawn to go deeper through understanding and inquiry.
Another pathway, in my case, was accidental. I met my guru when I was eleven years old. There was some catalyst—something that set the process in motion.
As the Bhagavad Gita lays it out, some people are distressed or suffering and become seekers, and there are seekers of knowledge who are drawn through inquiry. Another group of people are seekers; some people seek comfort, success, wealth, and material security. They enter spiritual practice almost as a form of prayer to obtain something. Someone might think, “I do not have children and want a child so that I will do this ritual,” or “I want material success so that I will engage in this practice.” That is another motivation for seeking.
Then there are seekers of wisdom—people who want liberation through understanding. These are the four types of seekers described in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says that among them, the seeker of wisdom is his favourite. He explicitly praises the one who seeks through wisdom above the others. He does not specify a least favourite, but he clearly elevates the seeker of wisdom.
Jacobsen: Are there corresponding categories for those who are not seekers?
Narayanan: I think people who are not seekers are simply those who are caught up in the illusion of the world and are not particularly interested in questioning it. They want to live their lives, take care of daily responsibilities, and then live and die having done that. There is nothing wrong with that, and there is no judgment implied. Most of the world falls into that category.
People can live whole lives pursuing success, wealth, recognition, and stability. That is fine. But there is a subset of people who feel that this is not the whole story—that there is something more that requires investigation. They begin to ask more profound questions: “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “What is this world?”
In that sense, it is not so different from the way a scientist approaches reality. If you read some of what Einstein said alongside the Buddha’s, you sometimes cannot tell who said what. I have a book called Einstein and Buddha that quotes both of them, and they are often pointing toward the same fundamental questions: What is the nature of consciousness? Who are we?
Many people feel drawn to these questions and become seekers.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Gayathri.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner explore whether the ratio between the observable universe and the smallest physical scales carries deeper significance. Rosner situates the question within the anthropic principle: observers necessarily arise in regions and eras compatible with simple life. Humans exist near an active star, within the universe’s luminous core, because complex or long-lived civilizations would occupy very different energetic regimes. Rosner extends this reasoning to human history itself, noting that the present era contains the largest concentration of humans who have ever lived, making it statistically unsurprising that we find ourselves “now.” The result is not cosmic centrality, but observational inevitability.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you look at those maps of the size of the observable universe, what we see—those structural, spatiotemporal limits—are bound by the speed of light. What we can observe is based on the apparent age of the universe, the speed of light, how far it can travel, and the expansion of space itself. But is there any importance to the ratio between the observable diameter of the universe and the smallest meaningful scales in physics?
Rick Rosner: People have noted.
Jacobsen: We are right in the middle of it.
Rosner: Yes, people have noted that there are evocative ratios that echo other ratios in physics—for example, in coupling strengths. There are these questions about why we are in the middle.
Jacobsen: Why are we in middle reality? Why are we in the middle of the universe’s magnitudes?
Rosner: For one thing, for life to exist—simple life like us—if you look at the possible ages of civilizations, human civilization is often said to have begun around 10,000 years ago. The universe is about 13.8 billion years old. Stars can burn for around 10 billion years.
It is possible to imagine civilizations that have existed for millions, or even hundreds of millions, of years. Compared to them, we would be young and simple. A civilization that has existed for 20 million years would be unimaginably complex by our standards.
But we are simple. We get essentially all of our energy from simple sources. All the energy on Earth ultimately comes from sunlight. It gets converted into other forms, but it is still sunlight.
Simple life emerges on a planet—a rocky body in orbit. We are very close to nature. We are not an engineered civilization of the far future. For us to exist in our simple form, we need to be part of the active center of the universe, orbiting an actively burning star.
So why are we in the center of the universe? Because of the anthropic principle: we necessarily find ourselves in a universe, and in a region of that universe, that is compatible with life. Otherwise, we would not be here.
The universe we observe is one in which life can exist. If there are many possible universes, we necessarily find ourselves in one that permits life. Likewise, if there are many possible locations within a universe from which observations could be made, we have to be observing from an active region—near a star—because without orbiting a star, we would not exist. That is why we are in the middle of things, in that sense.
There is also a demographic argument used to ask why we exist at this particular point in human history. Why are we not cavemen? Why are we not living during the Renaissance?
The argument—admittedly not a tight one—is that over the history of humanity there have been on the order of 110–120 billion humans, with roughly 8 billion alive now. If you sampled a human at random across all of human history, the present era represents the single largest concentration of humans. That makes it statistically more likely, compared to most earlier periods, that you would find yourself living now.
It is a somewhat wobbly argument. It does not necessarily imply that there will be fewer humans in the future. I do not know. But arguments of that kind exist.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen revisits a long-standing idea with Rick Rosner, tracing it from an Errol Morris documentary to Rosner’s current thinking about information and cosmology. Rosner reflects on the proton–electron mass ratio as potentially non-arbitrary, speculating that it may encode something fundamental about the universe’s informational structure. He connects quantum fuzziness, mass, curvature, and collapsed matter to a broader picture in which much of the universe’s information is hidden in gravitationally dense regions tied to earlier cosmic eras. Framed explicitly as speculation, Rosner’s view treats particle precision as possibly emergent from the universe’s total informational budget.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I remember years ago, either before we met or when we first met—this was probably twelve years ago—I remember seeing, in the Errol Morris documentary First Person, that you mentioned how, when you had your desk-and-chair setup for thinking, you found the electron–proton mass ratio interesting with regard to the structure of the world. What do you mean by that now, after more thought, with regard to characterizing information?
Rick Rosner: I believe that quantum particles are described by wavefunctions, and that “fuzziness” (uncertainty in position and momentum, and characteristic quantum length scales) is typically tiny at everyday scales. In several important physical contexts, characteristic quantum length scales shrink as mass increases, which is one reason macroscopic objects look far less “quantum-fuzzy” than electrons do.
The proton–electron mass ratio is about 1836.152673…. My guess is that this number is not arbitrary—that, with the right mathematics, it could be derived from deeper theory rather than treated as a brute empirical input.
I believe that this ratio has something to do with the amount of information in the universe, and possibly with the amount of hidden information—probably the amount of hidden information. The age of the universe since the Big Bang is about 13.8 billion years.
Information exists in a context. The active, luminous universe includes on the order of hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with on the order of hundreds of billions of stars—often summarized as roughly 10²² stars in the observable universe—radiating enormous amounts of energy as light and other forms of radiation. If the universe is made of information, that active center consists of information that is largely consistent with the rest of the information in that active center. But there is other information in the universe that is not consistent with the current information.
It is old information contained in burnt-out galaxies on the fringes of the universe. That matter—these burnt-out galaxies—is largely gravitationally collapsed and located in a part of the universe with much greater curvature, which is also a gravitational property. We tend to think of that region as corresponding to the early universe.
When you look back, the farther away you look with a telescope, the earlier you see, because you are observing very old light that took billions of years to reach us. We think that the much more compressed, highly curved universe no longer exists in that form—that the universe, following the Big Bang, has continued to expand for about 13.8 billion years, spreading out so that the earlier tightness and curvature have diluted over time.
It looks like the surface of a balloon being inflated, except without a neck. What I am suggesting—speculatively—is that the “neck” still exists: that there is a part of the universe that remains highly curved and tightly compacted, and that all the collapsed matter in that tight region acts like tent pegs, keeping the active center of the universe open and highly defined. One possible indication of this highly defined nature of the universe might be the proton–electron mass ratio.
Now, I could be deluded or mistaken. The electron is treated in the Standard Model as a point particle. It has no known internal structure—just basic physical properties such as charge and spin. It is a point—technically a fuzzy point—but still a point. A proton, by contrast, has substantial internal structure.
It contains three valence quarks, along with gluons that mediate the strong force confining those quarks. There is a great deal happening inside every proton. So it is not as though, in a universe with no information or very little information, the mass ratio would be one-to-one.
I do think that—even if not specifically the proton–electron mass ratio, which I focused on somewhat naively—the precision with which particles in the universe are defined may be related to the total amount of information in the universe, including information hidden in collapsed matter from earlier eras of cosmic history.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Rabbi Debra Bennet is the Director of Jewish Life & Learning at the Mid Island Y JCC in Plainview, NY. Ordained in 2007, she has served as Rabbi Educator at Temple Beth Torah in Melville and Associate Rabbi at Temple Chaverim in Plainview, where she developed programs to engage teens and strengthen the Jewish community. Rabbi Bennet focuses on the ethics and practice of belonging, fostering dialogue across differences, navigating pastoral and communal challenges, and creating inclusive, connected communities in synagogues, schools, and Jewish organizations.
With Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Rabbi Debra Bennet explains that Jewish community is rooted in shared peoplehood, memory, and mutual responsibility. She highlights the minyan as an ethical safeguard against isolation, especially in grief, and frames belonging as a lived practice shaped by holidays, mitzvot, and the call to repair the world. In conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, she describes how JCCs can unite diverse participants through multiple entry points and universal human needs. She discusses conflict as unmet needs, accountability through dialogue, teshuvah as repair, and digital Judaism’s paradox of access and disconnection.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In Jewish thought, what makes a group of people a community? What are the ethics of belonging in Jewish traditions?
Rabbi Debra Bennet: In Jewish thought, community is at the center of our Jewish identity. We are not merely a religion defined by individual belief, but as “People”, a group bound by a shared history, a common culture, and a collective destiny. This transition from a collection of individuals into a true community occurs largely through our commitment to mutual responsibility.
We see this most clearly in the laws of the minyan: our tradition mandates that ten Jewish adults must be present to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish. This requirement ensures that a person in the depths of grief is never left to walk that path alone. Instead, they are surrounded by a community that cares for them and holds their pain.
This sense of belonging is further cemented by our shared past, which is woven into the fabric of our holidays. Whether we are reliving the exodus from Egypt on Passover, resisting oppression on Chanukah, or standing together at the foot of Mount Sinai on Shavuot, we experience these milestones not as historical footnotes, but as personal and collective memories.
Finally, a community is defined by its shared mission. To be part of the Jewish community is to be tasked with L’taken et Ha’olam, to repair the world. Through
The performance of mitzvot, the commandments, we move beyond ourselves to take active responsibility for the well-being of others, transforming a group of people, in our greatest moments, we pray, into a unified force for good.
Jacobsen: In a JCC setting, how do you build community across differences?
Bennet: Building community across differences requires a commitment to the idea that we can be a unified community without being a uniform one. In a JCC, we see individuals from a vast array of religious backgrounds, cultural perspectives, and life experiences entering our doors every day. To build a cohesive community among them, we must meet people exactly where they are.
This involves creating diverse ‘on-ramps’ for communal life. For some, the entry point is a secular one, like a fitness class or a parenting group, while for others, it is deeply spiritual, like a class on Jewish identity or an experience of a holiday. By providing these accessible entry points, we allow people to enter this community on their own terms and feel a sense of comfort and belonging wherever they are.
In addition, the key to building across these differences is to identify the universal threads within our Jewish values. We connect people through shared human experiences, including the desire for health, the education of children, or the need for support during aging. By focusing on these connections, the Mid Island Y JCC becomes a rare ‘third space’, where people who might never meet can build meaningful relationships based on mutual care and a shared sense of place.
Jacobsen: What are common rabbinical realities in navigating beneath community conflict? How do you design accountability, firm but non-punitive?
Bennet: In navigating community conflict, it is essential to recognize that conflict often reflects unmet needs or deep-seated fears. My approach to leadership in these moments centers on the power of the conversation itself, connecting with individuals and groups through curiosity rather than judgment. By facilitating honest dialogue, we allow individuals to feel heard, which is often the first step in de-escalating tension. The goal is to learn from others and arrive at new conclusions together. This mirrors the Jewish value of Machloket l’shem shamayim (dispute for the sake of heaven), where the objective is to reach a higher truth through the respectful discussion of different perspectives.
Jacobsen: What does repair look like in practice, individually and then communally?
Bennet: Human beings are fallible. We all make mistakes, and we all act in ways we later wish we could change. Rather than faulting this as a flaw, Judaism recognizes it as an essential part of the human experience. This is why Yom Kippur is one of our most sacred days; it is a communal acknowledgement that we have gone astray and a collective commitment to do better. In practice, repair, or Teshuvah, is the process of taking responsibility for our “missed marks” and actively working to realign ourselves with our values.
Individually, repair begins with an honest inventory of our actions, followed by a sincere effort to make amends to those we have hurt. It is not just about saying ‘I’m sorry,’ but about changing behaviour so when the same situation arises again, we choose a different path. Communally, repair looks like creating a culture of forgiveness and second chances. It means building a community that is strong enough to hold the mistakes of its members without casting them out. When we practice repair together, we move from a place of judgment to a place of grace, recognizing that our shared fallibility is what binds us most closely. We believe in the human capacity for change, and our communal structures should reflect that hope.
Jacobsen: How has digital Judaism changed the texture of belonging?
Bennet: The digital age presents a unique paradox for Jewish belonging. On one hand, technology can feel isolating, with individuals often more connected to their devices than to the people sitting beside them. In this landscape, the Jewish emphasis on physical, face-to-face community becomes a vital antidote to modern loneliness.
At the same time, digital Judaism has expanded our understanding of what belonging means by removing the barriers of geography and physical ability. Today, belonging is no longer confined to a single zip code. We see this when a loved one attends a funeral across the country via Zoom because they can no longer travel, or when millions of Jews tune into Shabbat services from their living rooms. Digital tools allow our most skilled teachers to reach students far beyond their own cities, democratizing Jewish wisdom.
While we must be careful not to let digital connection replace the intimacy of shared physical space, these tools have ensured that no Jew, regardless of their health, location, or mobility, ever must be truly outside the community.
Jacobsen: From teen and intergenerational work, what practices reliably turn participation into ownership?
Bennet: Ownership happens when we make individuals part of the story, showing them that the Jewish narrative is not just something they inherit, but something they are actively helping to create. In my experience with teen and intergenerational work, this transition occurs through agency and shared experience. Whether it is a group of teens exploring the complexities of Israel through deep, honest conversation, or grandparents and grandchildren learning together how to bring the ritual of Havdalah into their modern, diverse homes, the goal is to move from passive learning to active participants in their Jewish lives. The story is not our story; it is their story as well.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Debra.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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William Dempsey, LICSW, is a Boston-based clinical social worker and LGBTQ+ mental-health advocate. He founded Heads Held High Counselling, a virtual, gender-affirming group practice serving Massachusetts and Illinois, where he and his team support clients navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, and gender dysphoria. Clinically, Dempsey integrates EMDR, CBT, IFS, and expressive modalities, with a focus on accessible, equity-minded care. Beyond the clinic, he serves on the board of Drag Story Hour, helping expand inclusive literacy programming and resisting censorship pressures. His public scholarship and media appearances foreground compassionate, evidence-based practice and the lived realities of queer communities across North America.
In this interview, William Dempsey, a Boston-based clinical social worker, discusses the persistent realities facing LGBTQ+ youth across generations. Speaking with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Dempsey explains how stigma, concealment, and family rejection contribute to elevated anxiety and depression, while housing insecurity and employment discrimination compound risk. He emphasizes affirming care, patient decision-making around gender exploration, and the importance of legal protections. Dempsey also highlights the loss of intergenerational queer spaces and argues for mentorship by queer elders as a stabilizing force, helping young people develop autonomy, resilience, and hope in the face of structural and social barriers.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Gay youth! They were here in the 1950s. They were here in the 2000s. They were here up to 2025. In fact, they are still here. So America’s gay youth factories are still working. The assembly lines are still productive. With regard to gay youth today, let’s not jump into what is wrong with youth today. Let’s focus on what issues they are facing today and how we can maybe help them develop autonomy, self-sufficiency, and resilience, in spite of some of the additional difficulties some of them are statistically more likely to experience than the norm.
Will Dempsey: I think it is important to remember that feeling like you cannot be out for who you are can bring about things like anxiety and depression. This is part of why LGBTQ+ youth report mental health challenges at higher rates than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts.
Part of it is a continuation of trying to evolve society into a place that can be accepting of queer youth and instill in them that it is okay to be whoever you are, as cheesy as that may be. That can translate over to other populations as well; that is not limited to sexuality and gender. Who has not, at some point in their life, been embarrassed to share something about themselves that they thought they would be judged for? It is a lesson that we can instill in youth on a greater scale that is going to help queer youth specifically, but is still a great lesson for all kids to be aware of.
There are also the logistics: oftentimes kids might be kicked out of their homes, or experience housing instability, because of their sexuality or gender—especially in families that are strongly non-affirming, including some religious conservative families. Constantly trying to provide access to basic human rights—housing, food, et cetera—is always going to be important, not only to combat some of the aforementioned mental health challenges, but also safety. Practically, some queer youth—especially some trans youth who are homeless or housing-insecure—can end up in survival sex or other unsafe practices to survive and make sure that they have a place to live and sustain things like nutrition.
Having community activism in addition to legal protections, whatever those may look like, is going to ensure further safety for people. The last thing that I always encourage for the community at large, and I can start with queer youth, is having queer elders in some sort of mentorship program.
A lot of what we talk about is how, as the queer community has moved away from the bar scene, thanks to apps—where bars were typically big on cruising and now with apps, whether Grindr, Tinder, whatever they are called, Sniffies—Sniffies. You have that in Canada? Yes, it is available in Canada. It sounds like a moot. Sounds like sex. Imagine the headless torsos, but even more graphic. It is very right to the point.
The bar scene is dying. That is where a lot of younger gay men and other queer people would meet up with elders and learn from them. A lot of that art, in a way, is dissolved. And so, by continuing to have spaces in which up-and-coming queer folks can be speaking with those who have been in their shoes before them—especially, but not limited to, political persecution—it is helpful to be reminded that there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and why we continue to advocate for equality.
Jacobsen: What is a typical gay young man who comes to you? What are the problems?
Dempsey: I think that the problems are typically the same. If we are talking from a sexuality lens, it is things like dating, or challenges around wanting to be who they are and feeling judged for it, which again is not limited to queer and trans youth. I think all of us at some point have felt judged by our peers at a young age, like middle school, high school. Challenges around dating and, being unsure how to ask someone out that you like—these things are all normalized. They are not unique to the community. Where it can become more specific is with challenges around dating related to logistics: not having other people who are out, not wanting to be the first one, or not being confident that your immediate circle—family, friends, religious community, or others—is going to be accepting of you for who you are.
We also have a lot of trans youth in our practice. Then the question often becomes: how do you want to explore your gender? Is it through clothing? Do you want to eventually start hormone replacement therapy at a certain age? What steps do you want to be taking? There is also a lot of education involved in trying to support youth around these questions.
Have you thought about whether, down the line, you might want biological children? There are considerations—such as, but not limited to, fertility preservation options like freezing eggs—before making certain gender-related medical decisions. That can be very difficult to think about when you are so young.
We try, as best we can, to help them navigate these decisions and remember that they are not decisions that have to be made now. That is also a common challenge for any of us as teens: that sense of impulsivity, wanting change now, wanting to grow up. There is a feeling many of us have experienced of being almost trapped under the authority of adults in our lives—teachers, parents, and others.
There is a desire to push out of that, but we also have to remind them that, like any decision, there are consequences. It is important to slow down and be intentional about what those look like for them. That is something we come across a lot, particularly with some of the medical decisions they may be considering.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Will.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Elena Sabry is a Ukrainian-American executive career coach at Career Academy, based in Las Vegas. With family in Kyiv and constant contact with friends and colleagues in Ukraine, she follows the war’s daily realities through Ukrainian news, social media, and direct conversations. Sabry previously worked in Kyiv hospitality, including at the InterContinental Kyiv, and has lived abroad in the United Arab Emirates, sharpening her perspective on language, culture, and migration. Shaped by early economic hardship after her father died in 1992, she now helps clients build resilient careers and supports Ukrainian communities through advocacy, practical guidance, and storytelling during prolonged crises.
In this exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks Elena Sabry how Russia’s winter strikes on energy systems translate into daily constraints in Kyiv. Sabry describes cascading outages that cut off water, heat, transportation, and basic medical services, forcing apartment residents to climb stairs and go to clinics to ration generator power. She explains how unpredictability collapses planning into hour-by-hour survival: wash, cook, clean, and charge devices whenever electricity returns. Sabry adds that rail travel becomes a lifeline as airports close, and that displacement and workforce shortages intensify burdens on women, families, and pensioners. She argues that dignity includes the right to remain on one’s land.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, the current war in Ukraine—particularly in big cities like Kyiv—has involved heavy bombing with a focus on civilian or civilian core infrastructure: power, water, heating, mobility, and medical access. What are the most immediate daily life constraints that you are hearing about from family or colleagues?
Elena Sabry: Unfortunately, missile attacks and drone attacks are occurring during the coldest time of the year. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the full-scale invasion in 2022. The idea has been discussed openly in Russian political discourse—cutting Ukrainians off from basic services such as electricity and water.
Russia targets infrastructure during the coldest months of the year. Can you imagine waking up without water, unable to flush your toilet or make your coffee, and with the room cold? I live in Las Vegas. It’s 13 degrees today, and I was still heating my house—it was freezing. In Ukraine, they also have the shortest days of the year, so the nights are very long.
This also has psychological and emotional effects on Ukrainians because people need to walk up the stairs. In big cities, people live in apartment blocks. My mother lives on the ninth floor. My sister, a dentist at a polyclinic, works on the fifteenth floor. They need to run down. They need to go to work. My sister comes to the polyclinic, and it does not work. There is no electricity. She has patients, but she cannot see them because there is no electricity.
They have one generator, but it is not enough. International aid groups, including Rotary networks, have delivered generators and other supplies, but the need is far greater than what any single donation can cover. They use limited backup power for critical cases, because you cannot endure tooth pain. So she sits there and waits.
It gets dark at three or four. She comes back home and tries to manage. She has a battery or backup system, so she has some electricity. All houses have natural gas, and people are looking for ways to generate electricity. She can watch television for two or three hours even when the electricity goes out.
But not all families in Ukraine can afford this, because it costs hundreds of dollars. Think about pensioners whose pension is around $150 per month. They need to pay for heat and water. This makes life much harder.
In the 21st century, how can you live in a city when even buses and the metro are disrupted during outages? You are cut off from everyday life, sitting in darkness. This is not only physical damage—it is psychological pressure, meant to exhaust people and make them leave their homes, as many did in 2022.
Much of this is done deliberately to degrade basic services. Ukraine, by contrast, targets military objectives. They strike Russian military assets and fleets. They do not intentionally target civilian houses. If debris falls, it is usually from intercepted drones. Ukrainians have never deliberately targeted hospitals.
Hospitals and medical facilities in Ukraine have been hit repeatedly during the war, including well-documented missile strikes that international organizations have condemned. These are missile attacks, and missiles are exact weapons. This is not debris falling from drones. These are expensive, precision systems developed by many countries, and they are difficult to intercept.
These attacks are costly, yet they continue to target the power and electricity grid. Ukraine inherited a largely Soviet-era, centralized energy system, which makes cascading outages easier when key nodes are hit. Russia had access to detailed infrastructure knowledge and planned these attacks over time. Putin is trying to relive a Second World War he never experienced, creating this war to portray himself as a hero.
This is a fact: civilian targets are hit to cut people off from basic needs. You know Maslow’s pyramid? Ukrainians are now at the bottom of the pyramid—food, shelter, water. This is basic survival. People cannot plan. I was writing your answers, and I remembered this clearly. I even had a blog on Facebook, but I stopped because people in the comments told me, “We cannot plan what will happen tomorrow.”
They live day to day, sometimes not even week to week. They do not see a horizon. They are in survival mode.
Jacobsen: What does that do to people who are living there, or to those travelling there for humanitarian, human-rights, or other work? Does that narrowing of the time horizon apply to everyone?
Sabry: Yes. People have to act quickly. When there is electricity, you wash, you cook, you clean, you charge power banks.
You become more efficient, as my sister says. She runs up to the fifteenth floor. When there is electricity, she heats, she cooks. She cooks for a week ahead, so she only has to reheat food later, not cook like before. It forces them to move faster and plan differently. I do not know how they manage, but she still has patients, and they still come.
Her husband works for a pharmaceutical company, which is vital for Ukrainians. He is an IT director there. My nephew works at a hotel as a food and beverage supervisor. He is in charge of breakfast for guests. He works at the InterContinental Kyiv, a five-star hotel. They have foreign guests and media there.
You can see the BBC and CNN filming in front of St. Michael’s Cathedral, which is visible from the InterContinental. I worked there for years as well. People go to work. They do not sit and cry. They adapt their lifestyles to the conditions.
There is a lot of snow in Ukraine, and it can be very icy, making it hard to move. Many people fall. City authorities struggle because they lack sufficient staff or resources to properly clean the roads.
I was there a year ago and remember visiting my mother in Kyiv. We had a problem with the kitchen sink—the water would not drain. We called a handyman, a jack-of-all-trades. He told us, “I am in the army. I cannot help you.”
Ukraine has a serious demographic problem. In some villages, there are no men left. Women are fighting. Historically, the female population has been higher in Ukraine. During the First and Second World Wars, Ukraine suffered enormous losses. Nazi Germany occupied Ukraine for about three years, and entire villages were destroyed, including my mother’s village.
Now there is this war, and war, unfortunately, reduces the male population. Even when travelling through Warsaw, trains sometimes stop at the border due to power shortages. The rail system is the main lifeline.
Kyiv has two international airports, but they are closed. All civilian air travel is suspended. The only functioning lifeline in and out of the country is the railway. Prime ministers, heads of state, volunteers, families, and aid workers all travel by train.
Sometimes my sister was travelling, and she said they warned her about delays.
When travelling after COVID, mainly to or near Ukraine, you have to be very patient. Due to electricity shortages, transport schedules may change. Trains can be delayed. You need patience when you travel.
It is hard for older people because they lack stamina. It is hard for them to stand for long periods. I spoke with my mother’s friends who fled at the beginning of the war in 2022. Their family went to the Netherlands. The rail stations were overcrowded, and one woman had to stand for hours. It was tough for them because of their health.
That is why many pensioners and older adults want to stay home in Ukraine. I do not judge pensioners who remain near the front lines. Their house, their animals, their piece of land—this is everything they have. They have nowhere else to go.
Jacobsen: In most cultures, people put their equity into their land or their home. If their house is destroyed and they are 70 years old, their financial life is essentially over. They were born there. Their parents were born there.
Sabry: I coach people, and I see that many cannot survive or restart their lives elsewhere after living their entire lives in one village or one country. Even some young people from Kyiv did not leave because they love the city.
They know they have a job. They have a home. They are in their comfort zone. Starting somewhere else requires money, family, and support—or a spouse. Not everyone has that. That is why I hope this interview helps leaders understand that people have the right to live and die in their own homes. This is a human right.
Why should they be forced to go to Poland or America to search for a new life and become nobody there? At home, they are somebody. This land is theirs. Human dignity means the right to live and die on one’s own property.
I hope Putin will not try to turn Ukraine into a so-called “gray zone.” Let him create gray zones inside Russia, not in Ukraine. We have farmland. We have people. This is our land. We are not leaving it, and we are not going back.
Jacobsen: You mentioned many men being gone—having left the country, hiding, going to the front line, fighting, or dying. Each of those is its own story. What about the stories of women, where men are not there, or where there are very few men locally within Ukraine? For readers, it is essential to remember that Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe.
Sabry: Between 7 and 9 million Ukrainians have been displaced—you would need to check the exact figures. That is roughly one-third of the population. Ukraine had about 38 million people before the war. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the population was around 42 million, but it had already been shrinking. Now about one-third is displaced.
Some left Ukraine with their companies or families and went abroad. Others relocated internally. But many people stayed—those who have jobs, who have elderly parents or relatives. My sister, for example, is 53. She is a doctor. She has her own practice and her patients.
Starting life in America is not simple. There was the United States’ “Uniting for Ukraine” program, similar to programs in Canada. But even with these programs, restarting a life from scratch is extremely difficult.
The doors were opened, and we were grateful that my mother could stay with us for a year. But for my sister and her husband, it is different. They have good jobs. She has her medical practice, her apartment, and her car. To start a similar life in America would take many years, and she does not have those years if she were in her twenties or thirties, yes. But when you are 45 or 53, it is much harder, especially with the language barrier.
Even I speak with an accent—you noticed it—and that is fine. I went to college to try to remove my accent, but they told me you cannot fully get rid of it. You were born and raised with it. Many experiences shape how you speak, how you live, and what you are exposed to. I am okay with that. At least I can say, write, and explain what I want. I work in America.
Language removes barriers. If you travel to Ukraine, learning Ukrainian will open many doors. I knew this in the Middle East when I lived in the United Arab Emirates. People told me, “Learn Arabic, and it will open doors,” and they were right. Unfortunately, not all Ukrainians who immigrate can do this easily. Immigration often means you will not have the same life you had in your home country.
Then there are elderly relatives, like my mother. My sister takes care of her. She visits her every week. She calls her. They go to the summer house. In Ukraine, many families have summer houses where they grow vegetables and fruit, because Ukraine is a farming country, at least historically. We have fertile soil; almost anything grows. It is often compared to the Nile in Egypt.
The parents of my sister’s husband also live in a summer house in a forested area. He needs to visit them, because how would they survive otherwise? They live on a minimal pension. Even if he sends them money, someone still needs to bring them food, talk to them, and take them to doctors.
We are the generation caring for aging parents. Even my mother, who is in her seventies and no longer works, feels better at home. Home matters. That is why people have the right to stay and live in their country, speak their language, and use their currency. Ukraine is an independent state.
Many Ukrainian women I know—people I worked with—joined the army or work in territorial defence, while still living and working in Kyiv. They go to their defence roles like a job. Some work with drones. Some do electronics. Some help wounded soldiers who return. My sister, as a doctor, can also be mobilized. She is in a later wave of eligibility for mobilization. She is a children’s dentist. When a child has severe tooth pain, it is unbearable. By treating them, she contributes to resilience and victory by easing people’s suffering.
I know many people working for Ukrainian foundations, refugee support programs, and initiatives for entrepreneurs. Veterans return from the front and need jobs. Ukraine does not currently have a job shortage. It has a workforce shortage.
Ukraine lacks people, but it does not lack will or resilience. Many countries supply and support Ukraine. Even smaller countries have helped by providing generators and equipment. Ukrainians will always be grateful for that—thankful to America, to presidents, to leadership. Without this support, Ukraine would not survive.
The reason I can visit my mother or call her in Kyiv is because of this international support. And because of people like you, telling these human stories and sharing authentic voices, people know the truth and not Russian propaganda aimed at destroying an independent state.
Many Ukrainian women and men volunteer constantly. Ukrainian communities donate. People go to warehouses to package aid. They fundraise for military brigades that need thermal clothing, equipment, and supplies. Families raise money to buy better helmets and protective gear for loved ones serving in the army. Ukraine has extreme seasons, including frigid winters, and proper equipment can be a matter of survival.
Ukraine has a transitional season—spring and autumn—when there is a lot of rain, and it becomes difficult for tanks to move. Then there is summer, which is green, warm, and sometimes very hot. Ukraine needs a lot of clothing. I lived in Dubai and did not need much at all. I hardly spent any money on clothes. But when you live in Canada, you know you need winter clothing. In some ways, it feels similar.
You need different types of clothes for other conditions. I have a large audience on Facebook and LinkedIn, mostly Ukrainians. Every day, my sister and her husband come home from work and donate. They listen to YouTubers and war observers who analyze events, including American and international press. Then a blogger raises money for drones and donates daily. What she earns, she gives toward drones. Pensioners donate. Children donate through schools. It has become the new normal.
Sometimes I see people I know posting that a friend from high school is serving and raising money for a pickup truck. I donate because I trust these people. This volunteer movement is part of the resistance. Ukrainians are not waiting for the government. The government is dealing with diplomacy and international meetings. People on the ground do their jobs and contribute to keeping the Ukrainian economy functioning.
I know a former editor of a lifestyle magazine. She left that work and said, “What lifestyle?” Before the war, she wrote about Ukrainian celebrities, awards, and entertainment. Her magazine covered topics like the most intelligent person, the most beautiful person, and the best singer. I worked in that industry because my hotel sponsored these events. During the war, I met her again. She is now working on television.
She told me that she and her children—her sons, who are now around 21 and therefore eligible for mobilization—decided to stay in Ukraine. They said, “If we leave, who will stay? Who will support the economy?” She understands that people need to work, spend money, and keep services running. Baristas need to make coffee. The metro needs to operate. If everything stops, who remains?
Almost everyone has relatives or friends who have died. People see it every day on Facebook. I know families personally who have lost someone. It is tough in the 21st century to go to work knowing this. I worked with an executive housekeeper, and later I spoke with a friend while opening a hotel in Europe. She reminded me that her husband had been killed in the war. She became a widow. Who helps these women?
My father died when I was 15, in 1992, just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was an economic disaster. There were no goods in stores. You have probably seen films about the 1990s in Moscow and across the former Soviet bloc. The military pension my family received was about $100. That $100 supported my mother, who had lost her job because she did not know computers or English. I was 15. My sister was in medical school.
We lived on that pension until I was 21. My mother eventually found work. I went to university and found a job. But I remember the economic burden and how hard it was. When you are young, no one can help you. You are a minor and not even allowed to work. That experience shaped my career. It is why I became a career coach. I was driven to build a profession, earn money, and become independent. Even now, I help others because of that experience.
Economically, it is tough. That is why I always accept invitations to webinars supporting Ukrainian women entrepreneurs or to share knowledge about career development and entrepreneurship. Work gives hope. Without work, life becomes tough. Everyone needs a job because it gives purpose.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Elena.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2009. She operates a boutique national security law practice. She serves as President of Scarab Rising, Inc., a media and security strategic advisory firm. Additionally, she is the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider, which focuses on foreign policy, geopolitics, security, and human rights. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association’s Energy, Environment, and Science and Technology Sections, where she serves as Program Vice Chair in the Oil and Gas Committee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association. She serves on the Middle East and North Africa Affairs Committee and affiliates with the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Irina Tsukerman, a New York–Connecticut human rights and national security attorney, President of Scarab Rising and Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider. They examine the prosecution of Tyler Robinson, accused of killing Charlie Kirk at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. Tsukerman explains why a defence bid to disqualify Utah County prosecutors over a deputy attorney’s child at the rally turns on appearance, not proof, and why an early death-penalty notice is common leverage. They also debate Israel “friend” branding, extremist platforms, narrative drift, and media incentives in right-wing activism today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There has been a development in the case involving the killing of Charlie Kirk. The defendant is Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man. Kirk was shot on September 10 at a Turning Point USA event on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, and prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.
The new issue is a defence motion seeking to disqualify the Utah County Attorney’s Office on the grounds of an alleged conflict of interest. The defence points to the fact that an adult child (reported as 18) of a deputy county attorney attended the event where Kirk was shot and exchanged texts with their parent—who works in the Utah County Attorney’s Office—about what was happening. The child’s name is redacted in court filings.
The defence argues this connection could create an appearance of bias. It raises questions about past and future prosecutorial decision-making and asks the court to remove the office from the case. Before we get into your broader analysis, a quick clarification: if prosecutors are disqualified, the case does not end; it would continue with a different prosecuting authority or team.
Irina Tsukerman: On the first issue—the alleged conflict of interest—I understand why the defence raised it, but the details matter. The connection is not that the prosecutor was personally involved; it is that a prosecutor’s child attended the event and communicated with the parent afterward. According to the report, the child was present but was not described as a key witness with unique or dispositive evidence central to the case.
That said, when there is a plausible appearance-of-impropriety argument, it can be prudent—at least as a policy matter—to consider recusal or reassignment to avoid prolonged litigation and predictable appeals built around perceived bias. That does not mean the prosecutor is incapable of acting reasonably; it is about insulating the case from credibility attacks.
On the second issue, seeking the death penalty early in a first-degree or aggravated murder case is not unusual in high-profile matters. It is often part of prosecutorial posture and leverage from the outset, rather than evidence of improper emotional decision-making.
Political pressure and public rhetoric often surround cases like this, but that reality alone does not establish impropriety. It is simply part of the environment in which courts operate, and counsel must manage it carefully to protect the integrity of the proceedings.
That has never been an argument against charging someone with the death penalty. Whether this particular case ultimately qualifies will depend on whether the facts meet the legal definition, which is for the prospective jury to decide if the case goes to trial. Those are determinations for the fact-finders.
If there are any abuses of process, it is for the judge to address them through appropriate motions and challenges. Prosecutors are otherwise fully entitled to pursue charges they believe are legally warranted. In fact, it would be surprising if they did not seek the death penalty in a case like this.
Jacobsen: The preliminary hearing is set to begin on May 18, 2026. The shooting occurred on September 10, 2025. First question: Is this amount of time typical in a public murder case involving a prominent figure? As a side note, Israel is reportedly considering honouring Charlie Kirk at a conference focused on combating antisemitism. What are your thoughts on that?
Tsukerman: On the first issue, it depends on the specifics of the case. In general, there is a preference for a speedy trial, which exists primarily to protect the defendant’s rights. If a defendant is held without bail, prolonged pretrial detention can impose high psychological, financial, social, and reputational costs. If a defendant is ultimately found not guilty, they would understandably prefer not to have spent an extended period in confinement and legal limbo.
That said, in dire cases—particularly where evidence points toward guilt—defence counsel will often pursue every available avenue to dismiss charges, reduce charges, or delay proceedings to present their case as effectively as possible. The same dynamic applies on the prosecution’s side. Prosecutors may also seek delays to strengthen their case with additional evidence and to avoid rushing under political or public pressure.
Both sides need adequate time to prepare, including time to respond to motions to dismiss, evidentiary challenges, and other procedural filings. As a result, high-profile cases almost inevitably become longer rather than shorter. There is pressure on both sides to gather as much supporting evidence as possible, identify eyewitnesses and character witnesses, and refine their legal narratives.
If the case proceeds to trial, it ultimately becomes a structured presentation aimed at persuading a jury. Each side must be as prepared and effective as possible, which means assembling the strongest evidentiary and argumentative record available.
Regarding the potential award or honour, there has been substantial pressure to portray Charlie Kirk as a strong ally of Israel and the Jewish community. Earlier in his career, Kirk articulated pro-Israel positions and challenged certain anti-Israel or antisemitic narratives using fact-based arguments.
The early years of his activism contributed to a more respectful and constructive dialogue about Israel. In many ways, that work helped expose and debunk fallacious and conspiratorial narratives.
That said, in later years—without implying that he anticipated his death—he became increasingly influenced by the narratives of more isolationist, America-first figures such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. These figures played a significant role in supporting Turning Point USA, including through financial backing, political support, and the expansion and advancement of the organization.
These mentors and allies did not merely influence him for pragmatic career reasons, although the need for support and expansion clearly mattered. I also believe they influenced him psychologically. He appeared to adopt arguments that were far more critical of Israel and increasingly conspiratorial about Jews, particularly regarding claims about Jewish donors shaping political narratives and policy responses.
We saw evidence of this shift in some of the released text messages he sent to Marjorie Taylor Greene and others with whom he interacted. It was also evident in how he ran his organization, the kinds of people he engaged, and the issues he chose to emphasize. There was significant pressure on him to follow emerging trends within the MAGA movement that were explicitly anti-Israel.
At no point did he reach the level of rhetoric associated with Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens, but he was clearly trending in that direction. Whether this was primarily driven by practical considerations—such as audience capture and the need to cater to increasingly prominent segments of his base—or whether he genuinely came to believe these ideas because he was surrounded by people who reinforced them, effectively creating an echo chamber, is challenging to determine.
I reviewed his social media commentary and public statements from years before anti-Israel sentiment became more pronounced within parts of the Republican Party. Even then, it was apparent to me that he was not well-informed on many issues, did not pursue deep self-education, and tended to adopt sensationalist, conspiratorial claims fed to him from multiple directions because they were attention-grabbing. Limitations in critical-thinking skills made him particularly susceptible to these influences.
Given that pattern, it is not surprising that, with respect to Israel, these influences eventually began shaping his thinking more directly, leading him toward more conspiratorial and aggressive positions. Had he continued in that direction, we can only speculate about where it might have led.
Because he was so active in activism and social media commentary, it was nearly impossible for anyone to track every post he made consistently. As a result, many Israeli officials and supporters in Israel were likely unaware of shifts in his messaging, particularly in later years, or of changes within his organization until very late. Some continue to view him as the same friend of Israel he appeared to be early on and have been reluctant to take the implications of the released text messages or the broader trajectory of his rhetoric seriously.
Jacobsen: About the text messages and subsequent disclosures, as well as later conversations with Ben Shapiro and others, what do we actually mean by “friend of Israel”? Are we talking about support for the state itself, rather than automatic endorsement of any particular political leader? I think that distinction is central for many people.
Tsukerman: At a minimum, it seems to mean supporting Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself, as well as pushing back against conspiratorial, exaggerated narratives—particularly those coming from extremist groups. I do not think there was an expectation that he would necessarily be a strong supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu, for example. However, he increasingly began to conflate Netanyahu with Israel as a country. That conflation appears to have been driven by narratives that blurred Israel’s internal political decisions with broader questions of legitimacy.
There was also a growing conflation of American Jews with Israel and Israeli government policy, alongside stereotypes about “Jewish donors” who were, in reality, primarily American Jewish donors rather than Israeli ones. That slippage matters.
The problem was not that he became more critical of Israeli policies. I myself have become more critical of Israeli policies over time, particularly as Netanyahu extended his influence beyond traditional foreign policy into areas such as media narratives and institutional norms. Criticism of policy is not the issue.
The issue is that he began to fall for the very same narratives he initially set out to challenge. That is what I find most troubling, and it is something many of his early supporters either did not fully recognize or chose to overlook.
For a time, Kirk functioned as a contrast to Tucker Carlson. Carlson largely avoided debate, while Kirk embraced it, even when his views on Israel became more critical. However, the nature of those debates gradually became problematic. Many of his events began centring on foundational questions about Israel’s relationship with the United States, Israel’s right to exist, and Israel’s right to defend itself. These were no longer one issue among many—such as abortion, gun control, or free speech—but increasingly became focal points.
To use an analogy, this is like holding debates in a contemporary, human-rights-oriented, largely egalitarian society and starting from the premise of whether women should have the right to vote. Specific questions are settled foundations, not open propositions.
The same applies to statehood. Debating whether Israel should exist at all is not equivalent to debating specific policies. I have encountered similar rhetorical moves when people praise China while ignoring, for example, the historical annexation of Tibet. These conversations often rely on deliberate omissions and selective ignorance.
What follows from that kind of discourse is a challenge to legitimacy itself, rather than a substantive policy debate. That is the core problem. It mirrors debates over women’s rights, in which the legitimacy of equality itself is treated as negotiable rather than a settled moral and legal premise.
What is even more striking is that, while the United States has relationships with many different countries, Israel was effectively the only one whose legitimacy and right to self-defence were being debated. No one asked whether Kyrgyzstan should exist as a state. There was no discussion of the general tension between the right to self-determination and the territorial integrity of existing states. There was no examination of Russia’s backing of separatist movements in multiple countries.
There was also no sustained discussion about whether other U.S. allies are overly dependent on U.S. foreign assistance—Egypt, for example, which has been a major recipient of USAID while increasingly receiving substantial funding from China. There were no serious debates about whether continued U.S. funding is appropriate when a country is moving closer to U.S. adversaries. None of these issues were meaningfully raised as foreign policy questions.
Instead, the focus remained narrowly on Israel—its conflict with Gaza, its legitimacy, and whether the United States was excessively supportive. Other questions, such as whether Russia should exist in its current form, whether parts of it should be separated, whether Iran should exist in its current form, or whether China’s territorial integrity should be questioned, were not treated in the same way. Israel became a constant theme.
It is legitimate to ask questions about foreign policy relationships in general, but when only one country is consistently singled out, that becomes a fixation rather than a balanced debate. This was not a discussion of assorted U.S. foreign policy relationships. It was a recurring focus on Israel alone.
Equally concerning was the consistent decision to elevate the most extreme anti-Israel voices rather than mainstream critics of specific Israeli policies or of Netanyahu’s government. It is one thing to bring in scholars with differing visions of Israeli democracy or approaches to conflict resolution with the Palestinians. It is another to repeatedly platform figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene or Tucker Carlson as representative voices.
When those figures are treated as central interlocutors, serious questions arise. Why platform the most extreme positions rather than more mainstream perspectives? Why allow the Overton window of what is considered debatable to shift toward extremist framing?
For that reason, I am conflicted about the idea of honouring him posthumously as a straightforward supporter of Israel and the Jewish community. Had Israel chosen to recognize him earlier in his life, when he was at the height of his pro-Israel influence, that might have been more justifiable. However, when examining the totality of his political and activist legacy, he cannot be described in unambiguous or straightforward terms.
The individuals he later supported, the narratives promoted by his organization, and some of his own public statements made him, at best, a conflicted figure by the end of his life. That does not mean he never offered intelligent advice to Israel on public relations or outreach. However, I am not convinced that his later work meaningfully countered antisemitic stereotypes. In some cases, it may have reinforced them, whether intentionally or not.
Jacobsen: Thank you, as always. Take care.
Tsukerman: Bye.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Blessing Platinum-Williams is a London-based, self-taught software developer and the creator of Tonely AI, an “auto-reflect” keyboard for iOS and Android that surfaces the likely tone and intention behind a message as you type. Tonely aims to reduce everyday digital harm by prompting users to reconsider wording that may sound blunt, passive-aggressive, or manipulative. Privacy is a core design choice: Tonely runs tone detection on-device and, per its terms and privacy policy, does not upload or store your messages. She founded Tonely AI Ltd in Britain. She also has a law degree and a therapy-informed perspective on language for everyone.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Blessing Platinum-Williams, creator of Tonely AI, about Christian community as sacrificial, Acts-shaped responsibility rather than convenience. Platinum-Williams describes belonging as a church “showing up” in crisis—materially, emotionally, and spiritually—while acknowledging the limits and risks of human care. She honours family roles as service modeled by Jesus and emphasizes “spiritual covering” through elders who pray and counsel. For durable unity amid polarization, she prioritizes shared submission to Scripture over trends. When abuse occurs, she calls for immediate acknowledgement and removal from power, centering support for those harmed. She measures health by trust, vulnerability, and shared joy and grief.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In your tradition, what does community mean in a theological sense?
Blessing Platinum-Williams: When Paul spoke about the Acts church, he described a community that came together to support one another materially, spiritually and practically. It was not performative or convenient; it was sacrificial. People interceded for one another, shared what they had and took responsibility for each other’s wellbeing.
I witnessed this kind of community in a church I attended for over seven years. One woman, a single mother recovering from addiction, was trying desperately not to relapse. The church rallied around her. People contributed in different ways. I babysat while she attended night school; others gave time, resources and prayer. We prayed, fasted and supported her consistently.
Sadly, she later relapsed and lost custody of her children. When that happened, I had already left the church, but they reached out to warn me not to give her money. Unfortunately, the message came too late. I had already helped, not knowing she had relapsed. That experience stayed with me. It showed me both the beauty and the limits of human care, and the weight of responsibility that comes with community.
Jacobsen: What makes belonging meaningful in church life?
Platinum-Williams: Belonging becomes meaningful when you know the church will show up at your hardest moments, not just your best ones. I once read about a family whose home burned down. Their church didn’t just pray. They booked the family an Airbnb, and an affluent member offered them a home to stay in. They even placed family photos around the house so it would feel familiar and safe.
That kind of care cannot be forced. It comes from genuine love and attentiveness. It’s the difference between attendance and belonging.
Jacobsen: How does your community view the role of the mother and wife?
Platinum-Williams: In every faith community I’m actively part of, the role of a mother and wife is deeply honoured. Whether I’m leading prayer groups at my children’s school or organising my hiking group, service is viewed as strength, not limitation.
I consider it an honour to serve my husband and children, and I’m raising my children to love serving too. Scripture is clear: if you are called to lead, you must know how to serve. Jesus Himself washed the feet of His disciples. My family grounds me, and I’m deeply grateful for the role God has entrusted to me.
Jacobsen: How does the faith community view the role of family within community?
Platinum-Williams: The family you are born into and the family you gain along the way are both significant. I believe God places us in families for reasons that often only become clear later.
The family I was born into carries deep history, including spiritual challenges. I’ve prayed intentionally against generational patterns that do not align with God’s will. At the same time, I’ve been blessed with spiritual elders who fast for me, pray for me and counsel me. That kind of spiritual covering is an immense gift.
Jacobsen: What practices reliably build community beyond coffee and small groups?
Platinum-Williams: Prayer and intercession. When people intentionally pray into one another’s lives, change happens. Scripture tells us that when Peter was imprisoned, the church prayed fervently, and an angel freed him. Collective prayer moves things that conversation alone cannot.
I run a hiking group as an attempt to bring people together. I underestimated how much work community takes. When I considered shutting it down, I felt the Lord tell me that this was my church. People come carrying burdens. They need a listening ear. I pray into their situations, often quietly, and testimonies follow. They may not know I’m praying, but they know they are cared for.
Jacobsen: What helps congregations stay intact amid disagreement or polarisation?
Platinum-Williams: Staying grounded in Scripture rather than opinions, trends or culture. Unity doesn’t require uniformity, but it does require shared submission to God’s Word.
Jacobsen: What does a credible process look like when abuse occurs or trust collapses?
Platinum-Williams: First, the wrong must be acknowledged. Silence protects harm. Those responsible must be removed from positions of power immediately to prevent further damage. Only then can healing begin. Prayer, accountability and support for those harmed must be prioritised.
Jacobsen: How do you measure a healthy community?
Platinum-Williams: Trust. Vulnerability. Shared joy and shared grief. A healthy community celebrates together, carries one another’s burdens and creates space where people can be honest without fear.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Blessing.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Dr. Richard Kannwischer is Senior Pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church and has served more than 25 years in pastoral ministry. He earned a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. A gifted communicator, he is passionate about helping people see how the story of God speaks with clarity, depth, and relevance to everyday life. His preaching and writing blend theological rigor with storytelling, making complex truths accessible and engaging. Whether in the pulpit, on the page, or in conversation, he invites audiences into practical, life-giving Christian faith for seekers and believers.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Richard Kannwischer, Senior Pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, about “community” as koinonia—togetherness for a shared purpose rather than mere socializing. Dr. Kannwischer argues that a “friendship recession” is intensified by radical individualism and digitally curated selfhood, making humility and willingness to be formed essential to belonging. He warns churches against culture-war “candy” that unites through outrage but cannot last. He distinguishes forgiveness (a commanded, internal release) from reconciliation (mutual), frames discipline as mercy, and calls digital church an augmentation, not a substitute for embodied life together.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In your tradition, what is “community” theologically?
Dr. Richard Kannwischer: We’re in the midst of a friendship recession, in the midst of a community deficit. We find ourselves more insulated and isolated than ever before. The biblical notion of community is not just fellowship for the sake of hanging out. The biblical notion of community is the word “Koinonia”, and it is togetherness for a common purpose. It’s working together. God has called us as a church, as a community to be together, to be working with one another in partnering with him for his kingdom. Community at church is not just having a coffee shop, it is not just that you know some people, it is actually that you are in a fellowship to serve a higher purpose.
Jacobsen: What are the ethics of belonging in a Christian community?
Kannwischer: Belonging in a community requires living in a particular kind of way. One of the reasons we find ourselves in a friendship recession, a community deficit is the fact that people don’t live for anything more than themselves. There is a thinker by the name of Yuval Levin who says that we used to go to our organizations like a church, like a community and we see them as formative. Now we just see them as performative, using these organizations in order for us to have our own form of self-expression. So, the ethics of community to me are, it starts with the humility of I’m willing to be formed by this community. The community doesn’t exist for me as much as I exist in order to be part of the larger movement and in that larger community. It’s that adage” if you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend, and so, if ethics says, “what does it take for me to be a friend so that I might earn the right to have a friend” that’s probably where it starts.
Jacobsen: What pastoral realities threaten genuine community?
Kannwischer: The technology of today is 100% the greatest threat. Not the tech itself but the way the tech is organized in trying to be able to have us experience a curated reality that is all built on self. One of the things I say in my book Cultivate: you can’t grow the fruit of the spirit in the soil of selfishness. It’s just not possible to be able to do that. For us to be able to push back against the radical individualism where we think that all of reality is catered toward us.
Jacobsen: How should a church practice community without collapsing into culture-war captivity?
Kannwischer: The fastest way to get a church together is to become an echo chamber for the political right or the political left. It gets to the question of what “unites you?” Is it collective outrage on a particular policy or against a particular politician? Is it anger? The danger with that is, it’s like candy. It’s doesn’t nourish you, but it tastes really good in the short run. I think it was T.S. Eliot that says, “those who marry the spirit of the age will find themselves a widow in the next.” So, if you tie your community to a particular candidate, a particular ideology, issue or party your community will only exist for a short period of time because it’s not built on anything that lasts.
Jacobsen: When does belonging become coercive?
Kannwischer: I grew up in Waco, Texas which was famous before Chip and Joanna for the Branch Davidians cult. The buildings of my high school were actually built by the Branch Davidians before they moved further down the road. So, I grew up each and every day going to a school with a physical reminder of manipulative or kind of toxic belonging. I would say that manipulative, coercive, toxic belonging is based on a lie. I love how Max Lucado says that an untruth, leads to a false narrative, that leads to an overreaction. That’s what we see constantly, not just in a cult movement like the Branch Davidians but we see it in all kinds of different arenas of life where belonging has become to a point where its manipulative and coercive.
Jacobsen: What is the purpose of church discipline in a healthy community?
Kannwischer: I’m sure there are churches that would be different but my experience in church, the churches I’ve been a part of there is way too much artificial harmony. We just don’t put up with anything. One of the liabilities of American Christianity is anybody who gets pushed too hard on their preferences or their lifestyle or the way they see things. They just move to another church. I would say functionally in a lot of ways in American Christianity church discipline is impossible because of the consumerism and the way that people bring that lens to it. I’m all for productive conflict, the right type of connection however kindness leads to repentance. It can’t be the kind of thing where its combative and confrontational. Our constitution in the Presbyterian church reminds me in the opening on discipline says this: it is a dispensation of God’s mercy, not his wrath. That is what discipline needs to be. It’s not punishment, it’s mercy.
Jacobsen: How do you distinguish forgiveness from reconciliation in communal life?
Kannwischer: I can forgive someone without reconciling with them because forgiveness is in the heart, soul and in the mind. It’s between me and God. Forgiveness is being willing to forego your right to get back at someone and you genuinely have to let it go where you’re no longer hanging it about their head. Reconciliation is always a two-way street. Forgiveness is always commanded. It is always for your benefit, not just for theirs. Jesus commands that we forgive, there’s just no wiggle room to live the life in the kingdom and live with resentment. It doesn’t belong. There is no place for revenge in God’s kingdom. Reconciliation might not always be possible, it’s something that would be beneficial if it’s a two-way street, but it takes both parties to be willing to reconcile. I have to push people beyond their comfort zone, beyond their preferences to say hey you might not want this, but you really need to work towards being a reconciled people. In the end God is in the reconciling business and enemies become friends because of what Christ has done.
Jacobsen: What does digital church do poorly?
Kannwischer: Digital church is really good augmentation; it is a very poor substitution. It does not say for God so loved the world that he tweeted or for God so loved the world that he sent a video. The nature of ministry is incarnation, and we have to follow the embodiment of God choosing to be nearby. The reason people like digital churches are because it’s convenient and demands less of us. If you’re on vacation or sick, it’s great to be able to stay connected to your church. Or if you’re in a remote area and don’t have a choice. There are limitations and exceptions but for a lot of us digital church is a crutch, and we need the inconvenience and messiness of seeing one another, loving one another. I have a friend who got really estranged from church for a period of time and she said she didn’t want to go to church anymore. She just wanted to watch church until she realized that what God convicted her of was, I need to go to church with the lens of God, show me someone that I can love today. That’s a huge shift from what am I going to get out of it, how much effort is this going to take? I’m going to church because there might be somebody there for me to love.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and the time, Richard.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Wesley Farnsworth is an author, speaker, and communications professional whose work centers on faith, transformation, and the formation of authentic Christian community. With more than 16 years of experience in visual storytelling, branding, and digital communication—including service in military public affairs—he helps individuals, churches, and nonprofits communicate with clarity, integrity, and purpose.
Wesley speaks and consults on recovery-informed ministry, mental and emotional health, authenticity and vulnerability, church communications, nonprofit development, and creative strategy. He is the author of The Blueprint of Becoming: A Practical Guide to Faith, Failure, and Finding Your Way Forward, and hosts the podcast Unmasked with Wesley Farnsworth, where he facilitates honest conversations about identity, healing, and the freedom found in living truthfully before God and others.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Farnsworth about building a public life around evidence rather than vibes. They trace Farnsworth’s path into critical thinking, the mentors and books that mattered, and the common cognitive traps that make smart people believe weird things. The conversation turns to human rights: why free expression, secular governance, and scientific literacy reinforce one another, and how misinformation corrodes democratic problem-solving. Farnsworth offers practical advice for readers—how to check claims, argue without dehumanizing, and stay curious when certainty feels comforting. The interview closes on cautious optimism and concrete next steps for communities, classrooms, newsrooms, and conversations alike.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What does Christian theology define as a human being’s core?
Wesley Farnsworth: At the heart of Christian theology, a human being is defined not by productivity, autonomy, or moral performance, but by being created in the image of God. This means our core identity is relational before it is functional—we are made to know God, to be known by Him, and to reflect His character in relationship with others. Sin distorts this image, but it does not erase it; redemption restores and reshapes it. From a Christian perspective, the human core is not self-constructed but received, grounded in belonging before behavior.
Jacobsen: How does this core relate to the definition of a Christian community?
Farnsworth: If humans are fundamentally relational image-bearers, then Christian community is not optional—it is essential. The church exists as a living body, not a collection of isolated individuals pursuing parallel spiritual goals. Community becomes the environment where identity is affirmed, formation happens, and faith is both professed and practiced. A Christian community reflects God’s relational nature by creating space for mutual care, accountability, confession, and growth.
Jacobsen: Can there be confusion in church community between mere attendance and active participatory communal life?
Farnsworth: Absolutely. One of the most common confusions in modern church life is equating presence with participation. Attendance can be passive, but true community requires engagement. A healthy Christian community invites people not just to observe but to contribute—to serve, to be known, and to take responsibility for one another. These should be genuine “iron sharpens iron” relationships. Without intentional pathways toward participation, churches risk cultivating consumers rather than disciples.
Jacobsen: What pastoral realities threaten a healthy community?
Farnsworth: Several realities consistently threaten communal health: unresolved conflict, unaddressed power imbalances, burnout among leaders, and a culture that rewards appearance over honesty. Additionally, when churches lack clear values around vulnerability and accountability, people either overshare without wisdom or hide entirely. Fear of conflict, decline, and discomfort often prevents the conversations that sustain long-term communal health.
Jacobsen: How should a Christian community think about boundaries?
Farnsworth: Boundaries are not unloving; they are an expression of love ordered by wisdom. Healthy boundaries protect people, clarify roles, and create safety for growth. Boundaries acknowledge human limitation and the need for trust to be built over time. A Christian community should view boundaries not as barriers to grace, but as structures that allow grace to be experienced without harm.
Jacobsen: What is a theologically defensible model of discipline that is restorative?
Farnsworth: Restorative discipline begins with the goal of reconciliation rather than punishment. Biblically, discipline is meant to call someone back into alignment with truth and community, not to exclude them permanently. A defensible model includes clarity about expectations, proportional response, due process, and a clear pathway toward restoration. Without relationship, discipline often feels like punishment; within relationship, it can become a difficult but necessary path toward healing and renewed trust.
Jacobsen: What does repair require after harm?
Farnsworth: Repair requires truth, time, and shared responsibility. It begins with honest acknowledgment of harm, not defensiveness or minimization. Forgiveness may be offered, but trust must be rebuilt through consistent action. Communities must resist the urge to rush reconciliation without repentance or to demand silence for the sake of unity. True repair honors both justice and mercy.
Jacobsen: How can communities make room for testimony without oversharing or turning vulnerability into a moralistic performance?
Farnsworth: Testimony is meant to point toward God’s faithfulness, not put the storyteller at the center. Healthy communities create guidelines that honor privacy, consent, and context. Vulnerability should serve formation, not spectacle. Leaders play a key role in modeling restraint—showing that it’s possible to be honest without being explicit, and transparent without performing pain. When testimony is framed as witness rather than exhibition, it builds faith instead of pressure.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Wesley.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Dr. Sam Adeyemi is an Atlanta-based CEO, executive coach, and author who leads Sam Adeyemi, GLC, Inc. He founded and serves as executive director of Daystar Leadership Academy, whose programs have graduated 45,000+ alumni. With a large social-media following, he delivers leadership and organizational-growth guidance to executives worldwide. Adeyemi earned a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University and belongs to the International Leadership Association. His books include Dear Leader: Your Flagship Guide to Successful Leadership and SHIFTS. He also cofounded Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, where he is Senior Pastor. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Nike.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Sam Adeyemi about “community” as a theological reality: believers bound to God and one another through the Holy Spirit. Dr. Adeyemi frames Christian belonging as love expressed through mutual respect, support, and spiritual growth. He argues congregational community forms when purpose, identity, shared values, rituals, regular interaction, and clear leadership create order. On difference, he emphasizes teaching impartial divine love, cultivating identity in Christ, cross-cultural humility, and diverse leadership. He describes discipline as restorative correction, not vindictive escalation, and says repentance requires admitting wrong, prioritizing victims’ healing, restitution, and stopping harmful practices.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you use the word “community,” what do you mean theologically?
Dr. Sam Adeyemi: Community, theologically, means a group of believers who share a relationship with God and with one another, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jacobsen: What are the ethics of belonging in a Christian community?
Adeyemi: The ethics of belonging to a Christian community rest on the foundation of love. They include mutual respect, mutual support and spiritual growth.
Jacobsen: What turns a random local crowd into a congregational community?
Adeyemi: A random local crowd becomes a congregational community when it creates order. This includes establishing a common purpose, identity and shared values, establishing rituals and interacting regularly, and establishing a clear structure with leadership.
Jacobsen: How should churches build community across real differences?
Adeyemi: Churches can build community across real differences by teaching on God’s impartial nature of love, fostering a common identity in Christ, encouraging cross-learning across cultures with humility, and intentionally demonstrating diversity in the leadership.
Jacobsen: What does healthy church discipline look like?
Adeyemi: Healthy church discipline begins with sound biblical teachings and continues into taking corrective measures where necessary. Corrective measures begin with confronting individuals and then escalating where necessary in line with established procedures. The aim is restoration and not vindictiveness. It should be done in humility.
Jacobsen: When a community harms someone, what does repentance and restoration require?
Adeyemi: When a church community harms someone, repentance and restoration require the admission of wrongs to the individual or the community depending on the situation, focusing on the healing and wellbeing of the victim, making restitution if needed, and ensuring the behavior or practice that created the situation is stopped.
Jacobsen: What pastoral realities distort community life?
Adeyemi: Pastoral realities that distort community life arise from personal failure (sexual immorality or financial indiscretions), poor management and leadership skills (lack of delegation and poor conflict management) and cultural shifts within the church and in the society.
Jacobsen: How can online spaces genuinely help the churches?
Adeyemi: Online spaces can help churches to increase the effectiveness of their local and global outreach efforts, improve the effectiveness of their discipleship programs, increase the effectiveness of their internal and external communications, and improve the efficiency of their operations.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Sam.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin, M.S., LCPC, is founder and therapist at The Marriage Restoration Project in the Baltimore area. An ordained rabbi and Certified Imago Relationship Therapist and workshop presenter, he guides couples through intensives, retreats, and counseling aimed at restoring safety, communication, and connection after conflict or crisis. He holds a master’s in Counseling Psychology from Loyola University Maryland and trained with the Imago Relationship Institute. Slatkin earned a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, with undergraduate study at George Washington University and Oxford, and authored The Five Step Action Plan to a Happy & Healthy Marriage. He also co-edited curricula.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin, M.S., LCPC, founder of The Marriage Restoration Project, about belonging in marriage as a cornerstone of communal health. Slatkin argues that strong marriages reduce strain on community resources and create a “ripple effect” that benefits the next generation. He distinguishes unity from suffocating conformity, emphasizing standards with room for individuality. Slatkin explains structured Imago dialogue—mirroring, validation, and empathy—as a method to slow reactivity and restore safety. He frames repair through the Jewish t’shuva process: accountability, apology, changed action, and renewed connection.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Community is a network of relationships. What is belonging in a marriage within the context of a larger community?
Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin: Strong marriages create strong community. Couples that are healthy can better give back to the community. Couples that are struggling will not only be limited in what they can offer, but could also be a drain on community resources. When everyone creates peace in their home, it has a spiritual ripple effect on the community. It serves as a good model for others, especially the next generation so that the community at large is healthier when children grow up in healthy homes. Otherwise, dysfunctional marriages lead to dysfunctional children who bring their dysfunction into the community. A lot of people are in need of healing and it all starts from the primary marital relationship.
Jacobsen: Is there sufficient theological distinction between unity in community and conformity in community when striving for belonging?
Slatkin: Not sure I understand your question. Unity means accepting other people’s differences and embracing them instead of viewing them as separate. There are certain community standards that some communities need to preserve, but within that there is room for individuality and acceptance. A community can not function together if there are no standards. It is also can be suffocating when everyone is excected to conform.
Jacobsen: What is structured Imago dialogue and its process of slowing reactivity so people can feel heard?
Slatkin: Dialogue is a process where one person talks and the other one listens and does not respond; rather they mirror back by reflecting as close to verbatim as possible the message they received. This forces the listener to focus on what is being said as opposed to their response. It allows them to calm down and not react and it allows the person sharing to feel heard. There is also a place to validate the sender’s share by letting them know they make sense and empathizing with the emotional experience they are going through. It is a truly effective process.
Jacobsen: Jewish communities can tend to avoid conflict.This can be avoidance in one sense and disengagement in another.
Slatkin: It is praiseworthy to seek peace and not quarrel. At the same time, the hard issues need to be faced in a private and respectful way through dialogue with all parties involved. Running away from problems or sweeping them under the rug just delays the issue and causes more damage. We should be aware that there are things being dealt with behind closed doors by community leaders and we are not always aware of that, so don’t be too quick to judge a community.
Jacobsen: The goal of marriage is not a consensus. It is a relationship. Practically, what does “staying in relationship” look like?
Slatkin: Staying in relationship means making space for two perspectives and learning how to remain connected even if there are differences.
Jacobsen: Accountability, conflict, and repair: what is a repair protocol for a couple, and for a congregation?
Slatkin: The repair process mirrors the t’shuva process, being accountable by admitting one’s mistakes and apologizing, resolving not to repeat the same mistakes, and taking new actions to gift the relationship moving forward. This process can be done between a person and G-d, between a couple, and between a congregation. It is always possible to repair and change.
Jacobsen: Big problems in relationships: Contempt, defensiveness, escalation, and withdrawal. Are these patterns that manifest in the community, too?
Slatkin: These are all human problems and while they may show up in a marriage, they can also show up in community relationships. These are all defense mechanisms to protect us from pain. The brain’s primariy need is to keep us alive. If the brain experiences danger, it will alert us and we will do whatever we need to protect ourselves, even at the expense of others. These big problems in relationships are a manifestation of lack of safety. When things feel drastic, we take drastic measures.
Jacobsen: How do you teach curiosity about others in community, so everyone maintains something like a healthy balance between humility and active attentive engagement?
Slatkin: We can teach curiosity by encouraging members to take interest in others, to learn more about each other’s stories. While things may appear one way on the surface, there is usually much more beneath that would shed light on behaviors. Learn to ask questions, enagage others, and you will get to know them in a much deeper way.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Shlomo.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Rabbi Ilan Glazer is a Jewish clergy leader whose work centers on community, ethics, and ritual life. He has served in congregational settings, including a synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee, and has also worked in non-congregational rabbinic roles. Drawing on experience in Israel and the United States, he reflects on how communities balance welcome and boundaries, manage conflict, and build accountability. Glazer speaks candidly about power dynamics, professional burnout, and the pressures of constant digital access. He emphasizes Shabbat as an anchor of Jewish time and highlights b’tzelem Elohim as a guiding ethic of human dignity in contemporary synagogue life today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Rabbi Ilan Glazer on the ethics of belonging in Jewish life. Glazer describes religion’s core tension: welcoming all while maintaining communal norms. He argues healthy communities require humility, room for disagreement, and relationships strong enough to survive polarizing issues such as Israel, antisemitism, and politics. They discuss accountability, rabbinic ethics, and safeguards against abuses of power, alongside structural pressures on clergy: board dynamics, constant digital access, and burnout amid rabbinic shortages. Glazer also explores ritual joy—Passover, Yom Kippur, Shabbat meals—and closes with b’tzelem Elohim as a mandate for dignity and a vision of shared Jewish time.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the ethics of belonging in your tradition?
Rabbi Ilan Glazer: The first thing I will say is that it depends on whom you ask and which part of the Jewish world you are referring to. Every religion has a conflict at its core. On one hand, everybody is welcome to pray, love, worship, and connect with us. We want to be a broad tent and attractive to everyone. On the other hand, every religion and every denomination also has to say, “This is how we do things.” And if you are not going to do things this way, then maybe this is not the right place for you.
There is always tension around how wide our doors should be. Every community has to ask: What are our core values? Are we trying to get everyone to share those values? Are we actively trying to spread them outward, or are we willing to hold them more loosely to bring more people in?
This tension makes it difficult to create communities where people feel welcome, even when they do not agree with one another. In today’s Jewish world, talking about Israel can divide communities. Talking about antisemitism and politics can do the same. We end up with too many communities where everyone thinks alike, or where those who disagree remain silent because they know it is not worth speaking up. I think that is very unhealthy for our communities.
Ultimately, the Torah teaches that it is not good for a person to be alone (Genesis 2:18), and there is tremendous value in community. The challenge is how to live in community without losing our values or driving one another crazy. This is a question we have been wrestling with for thousands of years, and I expect we will continue to do so.
Jacobsen: How do you handle inter-community conflict when ideological differences are profound, whether immediate or long-standing, and how do you reduce tension?
Glazer: Everything is situational. It depends on what the conflict is about, who is involved, and what my relationship is with the people in question. It also depends on whether I am the person they want to help resolve the conflict. Wherever possible, it is our responsibility to calm the waters and remind people that everyone makes mistakes, everyone is human, and everyone struggles.
It is acceptable to struggle differently. That does not make someone a bad person. It does not mean they hate you. It means they have a different answer to the same difficult question. I try to normalize healthy disagreement. I tell people that they do not have to agree with every sermon or every teaching I give. In fact, I may disagree with something I said a few weeks earlier.
I model humility in intellectual life because when we believe we know everything, there is no room for learning. My goal is to create a community where people can learn and grow together. That requires acknowledging that we do not have all the answers. It needs saying, “That is an interesting perspective. Tell me how you arrived there.” Let me explain how I arrived at my view, and let us see where we overlap and where we differ.
The world would be a much better place if we were more humble. It is very easy to tear someone down, end a friendship, or say, “I no longer belong here.” It is much harder to build community and belonging. But when we do that work, we feel more connected.
That is what most people want: a community that feels like home, where people know us, and where we know that, no matter what, these are our people.
I think most of our communities can do a better job of this—my own included.
Jacobsen: Part of being in community is that everyone gets to know each other very well, sometimes more than is comfortable for some people. Embedded in that kind of intersubjective agreement is accountability. Will someone follow through on a task? Will they do what they say they will do? If they make a mistake, do they own it—whether they are leaders or members of the community? That raises questions about what accountability looks like for leaders and for members, according to religious ethics and communal standards.
Glazer: There has been a great deal of conversation over the last several years around rabbinic ethics and behaviour. In the Jewish community, this has surfaced most prominently around sexual ethics and violations of what people consider appropriate rabbinic conduct—and, in some cases, conduct that is clearly illegal. Unfortunately, there have been too many cases in which individuals have been charged, arrested, and prosecuted for criminal sexual abuse, not only of minors but also of adults. That behaviour must be addressed directly, and we need to think much more carefully about how to prevent it in the first place by implementing stronger safeguards.
That has been one central area of conversation in the Jewish world in recent years. Another ongoing discussion concerns what we actually mean by “ethics.” I raise this because I am on many rabbinic listservs, and even discussions around Israel have become deeply polarizing. Many social justice–oriented activists want to frame everything as an ethical issue. Countless rabbinic petitions are circulating, and if you sign one, you are assumed to be against another. People become very agitated over who signs which petitions.
My response has been to sign almost none of them. Many are performative rather than practical, and they often do little actual good. They are also highly polarizing, and I do not want to provide ammunition for people to label me as “for” or “against” something based on a signature.
The fact that even speaking about Israel has become so polarizing is itself telling. Of course, Israel is an ethical issue for many of us. But the discourse around it has become so ethically degraded that it is increasingly complex for people to act ethically in public without facing intense backlash.
We are living in complicated times. Seminaries, in my view, have not always done an adequate job of teaching about power dynamics, confidentiality, and how rabbis and congregants can become messily entangled. This can lead to unhealthy relationships between rabbis and synagogue boards.
There is also a structural challenge. Unlike much of the Christian world, rabbis are typically free agents from a contractual standpoint. We negotiate our own contracts unless we hire someone to do so. We report directly to synagogue boards, and many members feel that because they pay dues, they are the rabbi’s employer. On some level, that is true—and it can get strange.
I do not think any community has fully figured out how to address this well. There are inherent tensions, and community building is messy. Rabbis are people like everyone else. We make mistakes. We say the wrong thing. We do foolish things at times.
It is a hard job to be a congregational rabbi, and it is a hard job to be a non-congregational rabbi. I have done both, and I am doing both now. There are many projections placed onto rabbis, as is true for clergy in other faith traditions as well.
I had a congregant recently who wanted something urgently. They sent me an email on Friday at four o’clock. The Sabbath begins at 4:30. I was preparing for Shabbat and was not checking email. I then saw them at services and again the next morning at the synagogue, and they asked why I had not responded to their email. I said, “You emailed me at four o’clock on Friday. Shabbat began at 4:30.” I had other obligations at that moment, and checking email was not one of them.
The following day, they sent three more emails to make sure I had seen the original message. I understood that the issue was essential to them, and I was able to address their concern. But this reflects a broader misunderstanding about what clergy actually do and how we spend our time. There is often an assumption that the rabbi works for me and must be available whenever I need them. That is a difficult expectation to manage.
Sometimes there are legitimate pastoral emergencies, and in those cases, people should absolutely call us, and we will be as available as we can be. But if I am with someone else in a hospital, I cannot respond to an email at the same time. Someone will have to wait. We do not live in a very patient culture. Creating community is hard work. It is hard, it is messy, and it is entirely worth it.
There is significant research on burnout among Christian clergy, and similar patterns exist among rabbis. There is a real shortage of people willing to enter the rabbinate today. Among those who do, there is a particular shortage of people willing to serve as congregational rabbis. That is mainly because people know how demanding the work is. There is minimal separation between work and personal life; the hours are exhausting; family time is limited; and some synagogue workplaces are profoundly unhealthy. As a result, many synagogues struggle to find rabbis.
At the same time, fewer synagogues in some regions may partially offset these trends. Still, this is not a decisive moment for rabbinic recruitment. The job has become harder, and there does need to be greater understanding from community members, especially given contemporary expectations shaped by technology.
People increasingly expect constant availability—twenty-four hours a day, six days a week—as though the rabbi were another app on their phone. Instant access, always available. It has absolutely gotten harder. People call, text, email multiple addresses, message on WhatsApp, and reach out through every possible channel. There are too many communication modes.
Some rabbis choose not to give out their personal cell phone numbers, and I completely understand that. At the same time, telling a community member, “You only get access to me in this limited way,” can create real hurt. I do not think there is a perfect solution. The job has never been more challenging.
We have also had to become experts in Zoom, live streaming, and now artificial intelligence—skills that were never taught in rabbinical school. We have always had to adapt, but the community’s shape has changed dramatically. Every rabbi and every community had to navigate enormous challenges during COVID. More recently, the rise in antisemitism has taken a significant toll on the Jewish world.
As a collective—not uniformly, but broadly—the Jewish community is exhausted, grieving, and worn down. It has been a long and challenging period, and there is no question that it has left a profound impact.
Jacobsen: Let’s talk about more positive ground. In your experience, what parts of ritual do people tend to enjoy most? Which yearly celebrations tend to be people’s favourites, judging by attendance? Let’s go to the community.
Glazer: It depends on whether you are asking about the rabbi’s favourite rituals or the community’s favourite rituals. I will say this. Years ago, when I was a rabbi at a synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee, I led a weekly lunch-and-learn group, mostly with seniors. It was a wonderful group, and I really enjoyed studying with them. As we approached Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, I asked everyone to go around the table and say what they were most looking forward to about the holiday.
There were around twenty people in the room, and every single person mentioned seeing family, being together, sharing meals, cooking, and spending time with loved ones. After everyone had spoken, I said, “Isn’t it interesting that not a single one of you mentioned the synagogue services themselves?” They all attended services—do not get me wrong—but it was striking.
There is a distinction between public ritual and what happens in the home, and we need both. Many people are deeply invested in food. There is a saying that the largest denomination in Judaism is not Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform, but gastronomic Judaism. Every holiday has foods associated with it, and many people feel very attached to those traditions.
By far, the most widely observed Jewish holiday is Passover. The second is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Passover’s prominence makes sense to me because its central purpose is to tell the story of going from slavery to freedom. That is a message people continue to resonate with year after year. The Passover Seder—the ritual meal—includes many engaging elements. Families create their own Haggadot, develop traditions, sing songs, and make it their own. It is intensive to prepare, but it is also deeply meaningful and often joyful.
Hanukkah, which just passed recently, is also a fun holiday for many people. When it comes to life-cycle events, people often love bar and bat mitzvahs, seeing children step into Jewish adulthood. Weddings are usually joyous occasions. Baby namings are almost always happy events.
I personally have a deep appreciation for funerals. Different rabbis gravitate toward different life-cycle moments, and I often find funerals especially meaningful. There is a poignancy there that is sometimes less present in other moments, though I value baby namings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and weddings as well.
Some people are drawn to joyous holidays, while others are drawn to them primarily during times of grief. It depends very much on the individual.
I will add that Shabbat has long been a central anchor of Jewish life. Even people who are not deeply connected to Jewish practice will often light candles on Friday night, recite blessings, and share a Shabbat meal. For many, the Shabbat dinner is the core of their religious observance—and, in many ways, that is precisely as it should be.
Jacobsen: Are there certain holidays that people consider more optional? You mentioned mainstays and favourites with high attendance. Some holidays function as community anchors, while others are more selective. For example, some people might celebrate Christmas, but not attend Christmas Eve services every year.
Glazer: Among rabbis and other Jewish clergy, we sometimes talk about “three-days-a-year Jews”—those who attend on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement. Some are really “two-days-a-year Jews,” coming for one day of Rosh Hashanah and one day of Yom Kippur, and that feels sufficient for them.
When I was in rabbinical school, I participated in several interfaith fellowships, and my Christian colleagues used to talk about “Christers”—people who come only on Christmas and Easter. I am not here to judge that. Everyone gets to decide what level of religious engagement works for them.
One of the blessings—and challenges—of contemporary Jewish life is that no one is forcing anyone to participate. We are no longer living in enclosed communities where religious observance is socially enforced. Today, most Jews are, in a sense, Jews by choice. People decide what level of observance they want or need. That freedom is a gift, but it also makes community building more difficult.
Synagogues today are not just competing with the synagogue down the street. They are competing with Netflix, YouTube, social media, sports practices, and everything else that fills people’s time. That was not the case in the same way decades ago.
When communities invest in building genuine relationships, those relationships are what keep people coming back. Not everyone will observe every holiday, and that is okay. People make their own choices.
Yom Kippur in Israel is a good example of how community can look different. Many people go to the beach on Yom Kippur. While in rabbinical school in Jerusalem, I was involved in a local community. After the evening Yom Kippur service ended, my teacher told me to walk down the hill rather than go home. I did, and around eight o’clock at night, the streets of Jerusalem were full of people. No cars were driving. People were sitting together, talking, even playing games in the middle of the street.
They sometimes call it Chag HaOfanayim—the “Holiday of the Bicycle”—because it is the one day of the year when children can safely ride bikes in the streets without traffic. What creates community is not only whether people attend services, but whether there is a shared sense of Jewish time and a willingness to be together. Sometimes it happens in synagogues, and sometimes in public spaces.
It is easier to experience that shared sense of Jewish time in Israel than in the United States, though it is undoubtedly possible in both places. Community can take many forms. What happens inside the synagogue matters, and so does what happens outside it. If we are willing, we can create a community anywhere.
Jacobsen: A few basic questions to close things out. One that feels especially important: what makes a community?
Glazer: I have two answers. One is that I am a child of the 1980s. If you remember the television show Cheers and its theme song—”Everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came”—that is actually what community means to me.
The other answer is this: a community is a place where we are seen, valued, and cared for. It is not just that people know our names, but that we know others will be there for us when we need them. We do not have to call and ask for help; people show up. A real community takes care of itself, and that is powerful.
Jacobsen: Is there a favourite Hebrew concept or word that captures that idea for you?
Glazer: One concept that comes directly from our sources is b’tzelem Elohim—the idea that every person is created in the image of God. When we genuinely believe that, we have to recognize that every person we encounter is special, holy, and deserving of dignity.
If we treated everyone we met as though they were royalty, imagine how different the world would be. That is a very high bar, and it is not always easy to live up to it. Some days, we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. We get frustrated. We lose patience. But I choose to believe that every person is sacred, and that belief shapes how I try to move through the world.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time today.
Glazer: My pleasure. Thank you. If there is anything else I can do, do not hesitate to reach out.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Malka Shaw is an Orthodox Jewish social worker (LCSW) and educator who focuses on trauma, antisemitism, and Jewish community resilience. She founded Kesher Shalom Projects, offering workshops and support groups that build leadership, communication, unity, and Jewish pride. Raised loosely Conservative and drawn in adolescence to Reform youth programming, she describes her move toward Orthodoxy as a gradual, decades-long process deepened through immersive volunteering in Israel and sustained study. In clinical and communal settings, Shaw applies social-work principles—especially the principle of meeting people where they are—to help individuals and leaders turn isolation into connection and purposeful belonging. She trains allies in cultural competency.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Malka Shaw about how Jewish belonging works across denominations, especially after October 7, 2023. Shaw describes a long personal journey from a loosely Conservative upbringing through Reform spaces toward Orthodox life, emphasizing that community proximity and obligation are central. She contrasts Orthodox rabbinic authority (Da’at Torah and binding halacha) with more negotiated leadership elsewhere. Drawing on her Kesher Shalom work, she argues that roles and mutual aid reduce isolation and buffer trauma: meals, carpools, and constant check-ins. Repairing fractures, she says, hinges on communication, accountability, and creating joyful in-person gatherings so people feel seen, safe, and needed.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I put out a pitch on the Jewish community across different styles of living—Orthodox, humanistic, secular, and so on. I received many rabbinical responses. “I would be happy to offer my opinion.” I also think that input from a licensed social worker would be helpful. For background, you are Orthodox. Did you grow up Orthodox?
Malka Shaw: I did not grow up Orthodox.
Jacobsen: When did you become Orthodox?
Shaw: I would not call it a conversion. It was a journey and a process. I grew up loosely within the Conservative movement. As a teacher, I continued exploring and was initially more drawn to the Reform movement because I was searching for meaning. I joined a Reform youth group and found significant meaning there.
After college, I joined a volunteer program in Israel. I chose it instead of the Peace Corps. It involved hands-on volunteer work in Israel in a traditional Jewish framework, with an emphasis on exploring traditional roots and learning about ancient Judaism and spirituality. That process extended through most of my twenties. It was a long journey.
Jacobsen: Two concepts consistently come up in these interviews: community and belonging. How do you understand belonging within the Orthodox Jewish community?
Shaw: Belonging is central. It also connects to our previous conversations about antisemitism. The trauma of antisemitism registers differently in Orthodox communities. There is a physical reality to it and a tendency to turn inward, but there is not the same sense of isolation, because the community is strong.
Community is foundational. When people move, they want to live close to their community. That proximity is essential.
Beyond my personal identity, my professional work as a social worker has reinforced this. Through my work with Kesher Shalom, I run leadership workshops focused on Jewish leadership, communication styles, unity, and pride. Much of this work has addressed October 7, 2023, and the antisemitism and trauma-related aftermath, but it has involved leaders across secular, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox communities. Although I am personally Orthodox, I have worked with Jewish leaders across the spectrum.
Jacobsen: Do you notice differences in how they lead their communities? How so?
Shaw: Orthodox rabbis generally carry greater authority. That authority is established through years of study. They function as role models and are seen as authoritative figures.
As you move along the spectrum, leadership is less often viewed as authoritative and more as professional, similar to a social worker’s role. The rabbi may not be seen as someone whose guidance is definitive in areas such as marriage. In Orthodoxy, one might say, “I received Da’at Torah,” meaning authoritative judgment grounded in Torah learning and tradition.
Outside Orthodoxy, advice may still be valued, but it is less often framed as deriving from the authority of the Talmud and the Oral Law, and more from personal knowledge or expertise. This difference can contribute to greater perceived confidence in Orthodox leadership.
Jacobsen: What roles do parents, mothers, fathers, and professionals play in community life, particularly in terms of giving back through work and business? Community is a highly complex concept.
Shaw: Community is powerful for Jews in general. Tikkun Olam—you have heard that concept.
Jacobsen: Yes.
Shaw: You have been in Jewish spaces for a long time.
Jacobsen: I have had a surprising number of Jewish bosses, colleagues, and friends.
Shaw: Right. You are in Canada, though. Otherwise, we invite you for a Shabbat meal to really experience it.
The idea of giving back, the idea of being a light unto the nations—that is prevalent across denominations. In the Orthodox world, however, it is treated as a legal obligation. It is part of Jewish law. For example, there is the idea that a portion of one’s income belongs back to the community, rather than charity being simply a good or optional act.
There is a strong sense of obligation toward the community and responsibility for one’s role within it. That is one of the things that sets Orthodox communities apart. In my work running workshops on antisemitism and Jewish cultural competency, this has consistently resonated.
Early on, a non-Jewish participant once asked me, “How could you care so much about the hostages? You do not even know them.” I felt very sad and said, “I am sorry—you do not know what it feels like to be so deeply connected to people.”
I am connected to the hostages. I have never met them, but they are my people.
This morning, while drinking my coffee, something came across my Instagram feed about hostages who have been released—Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or. They were a couple. Noa was rescued in a dramatic operation that felt almost unreal when people first saw the footage. Avinatan had been one of the faces we all associated with the kidnappings.
I have never met them and may never meet them. But I saw images of him looking thin when he came out, and then later healthy on a beach. It made me emotional. I want them to have whole lives—to get married, have children, and live beautiful Jewish lives. That sense of connection is very real, and I do not know how to explain it to someone who has never felt it.
Jacobsen: Another part of the earlier question concerns roles. As with most faith communities, people have privileges but also obligations and responsibilities. Gender roles are often significant, though how strictly they are defined varies by community. Within Orthodoxy, what are the rights and obligations between children and parents, parents and children, and between partners or spouses?
Shaw: That is a significant difference between Orthodoxy and communities outside it. In Hebrew, we call it kibbud av va them, which means honouring one’s father and mother. Honouring parents—and celebrating the next generation—is central.
This is a broader cultural problem. There is far less respect for elders now, and that is a serious issue.
Jacobsen: North America is especially harsh in that regard.
Shaw: I agree. I know I may sound like an old lady saying this—and I am not one—but there is real value in respecting elders. But there is something important here: we gain wisdom through life experience. Not respecting that wisdom is a real loss. A lack of respect for lived experience—whether or not someone is a direct relative—is a serious problem.
For example, my children would never call you Scott. If you came to my house, they would call you “Mr. Jacobsen.” You are an adult, and addressing you casually would be neither appropriate nor respectful. You might say, “That feels unnecessary or old-fashioned,” and it may sound that way, but it is still meaningful.
There are obligations. I have obligations to my husband. He is my primary priority, just as I am his. We describe it symbolically: he is my king, and I am his queen, and it goes both ways. That does not mean subservience. I want to be very clear about that. It means deep mutual respect and responsibility.
When people understand their obligations, they have a place in society. They have belonging and purpose. When people do not know where they belong, lack purpose, and lack identity, the result is often radicalization. People become lost.
Jacobsen: Regardless of the space, people will take a bad answer over no answer. If there is a vacuum, they will fill it, especially with something pseudo-exciting.
Shaw: People often misunderstand structured roles and attach a negative connotation to them. In reality, they can be very positive. Roles and obligations create security. People know that others are looking out for them.
If someone is sick, if a spouse is out of town, the response is immediate: meals are organized, help is offered. When someone has a baby, meals are delivered. No one in my community has a newborn without two or three weeks of homemade food provided. When there is a death in a family, mourners receive meals, and carpools for children are arranged.
People are cared for. No one is isolated. And if someone is absent, people notice. Someone asks, “What happened to Jacobsen? I have not seen him in a while.” Someone checks in.
Jacobsen: A natural follow-up is how this extension of filial respect contributes to community resilience, particularly during crises.
Shaw: We see this more clearly than ever after October 7. In Reform, Conservative, and more isolated communities, there has been a strong return to Jewish connection. As antisemitism rose, the desire to reconnect with community increased, especially among non-religious Jews.
It is important to remember that Judaism is not only a religion. It was never only a religion. Judaism is a peoplehood. It is not just ethnicity or belief. Those categories—religion and ethnicity—are relatively modern constructs. Judaism predates them by millennia.
That is why we are seeing college students return to Jewish spaces, whether Chabad houses or Hillel. There has been a surge. This does not necessarily mean they want to become religious or observe every law. It means they want to be with their people. As the world has become more hostile, the desire for connection has grown.
When we talk about leadership, leaders must meet people where they are. That is where social work becomes essential. One of the basic principles of social work—often said jokingly because it is so fundamental—is to start where the client is.
Jacobsen: It sounds obvious, but it often is not.
Shaw: The most basic rule of social work is to start where the client is. When I run leadership workshops, I say the same thing: start where people are. You have to ask where they are emotionally and socially.
If someone says, “I do not want to pray,” then that is not where you start. But if someone says, “I am lonely because the people I thought were my friends are now expressing hatred,” that is where you start. You meet people where they are, connect with them there, and that is how reconnection happens.
People need connection. They need to feel validated. They need to feel wanted. They need a sense of purpose and belonging. These are basic human needs, consistent with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They are foundational.
Jacobsen: Where do Orthodox, Conservative, Humanistic, and Reform communities differ in how they define community?
Shaw: They do not differ as much as people assume. What I keep emphasizing is that we are all the same people, and we need to remain united, especially now.
Jacobsen: Suppose there is a fracture in a community—a new trauma or a serious disagreement. How does a community repair itself? It is not always easy, and sometimes fractures last a long time.
Shaw: Two Jews, four opinions.
Jacobsen: Yes.
Shaw: You may have heard that before.
Jacobsen: I have heard a few versions.
Shaw: Fracture is part of community life. There will always be disagreement. There is a saying that if one Jew were stranded on a deserted island, there would still be two synagogues.
There are methods for rebuilding community, but much of the problem comes down to communication. Breakdowns usually begin when people feel unheard or unseen. The challenge for leadership is bringing people back to the same table when they feel invisible or dismissed.
Jacobsen: Every community has its so-called black sheep. How does the Jewish community respond to difficult people—those with dissenting views or those whose behaviour creates tension or conflict?
Shaw: It depends on what we mean by “black sheep.” There is a difference between someone who is genuinely destructive or dysfunctional and someone who thinks differently or lives outside the norm.
Jacobsen: Let’s separate those cases, then. There is the “out of the box” black sheep—eccentric or unconventional—and the black sheep who is genuinely destructive to the community. Those are two different situations.
Shaw: Right. When someone is destructive to the community, an assessment is needed. How harmful are they? Is there mental illness involved? Are they dangerous to others? Those factors matter, and they need to be evaluated carefully.
That said, one thing that characterizes Jewish culture broadly is that disagreement is not only tolerated but welcomed. Jews are a people who hold multiple opinions at once. That is part of our tradition.
We talked earlier about the Houses of Hillel and Shammai—the idea that two opposing views can both hold value. This principle has profoundly influenced Western legal and democratic systems. Jewish thought has shaped Western society in ways that often go unrecognized.
In the American legal system, for example—and I am less familiar with the Canadian system—Supreme Court opinions are preserved even when they are no longer followed. There is value in dissenting views. That idea comes directly from Jewish tradition.
Even if you have an opinion, Scott, that I disagree with, your opinion still has value. That is a Jewish approach. It is not a cancellation. There is disagreement with the continued recognition of worth.
Repairing the community requires getting people back to the same table. People need to feel safe. They need to take accountability and feel heard.
In broad terms, there are structural differences between Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform communities. In Orthodox communities, authority is more clearly defined. The rabbi is the authority because Jewish law—halacha—is binding and non-negotiable. That stability creates explicit norms of behaviour.
In Conservative communities, authority is more distributed. The rabbi shares leadership with synagogue boards and committees, which collectively shape policy. Leadership can feel more negotiated or relational. Orthodox leadership tends to be more bound and structured, with more precise lines of authority.
When it comes to repairing fractures, communities need to create intentional spaces—listening forums or structured programs—where people can be heard. The challenge is that the individuals most responsible for tension are often the least likely to attend the spaces designed to address it.
This is similar to social work or therapy: the person who most needs therapy is often the most resistant to it. The people who seek help are usually the ones who need it least. That dynamic exists in every community.
You will always have someone difficult in any group. The key is to balance that by strengthening positive communal experiences. Across Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform communities, this often means men’s groups, women’s groups, children’s programming, and social events.
Community life cannot revolve solely around religion. For example, my synagogue is hosting a women’s social event on Saturday night that has nothing to do with religious practice. It is simply a social gathering. Over the years, we have organized mother–daughter events, couples’ nights, and other events to build connections. These experiences matter.
Some events work better than others. We have done escape rooms and painting events. Sometimes something does not work because of the time of year or the night of the week. But whether it is a JCC or a synagogue, it has to be enjoyable. It cannot be only about religion.
Across Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox communities, it needs to be a positive experience. You want people to find joy. Jewish life is also about pleasure—having fun, building relationships, and wanting human connection. People are isolated now because so much of life happens on social media. Communities need events where people meet in person, put their phones away, and talk.
It doesn’t matter what the activity is. It could be an escape room, music, or something simple. For kids, it could be a musician, a magician, or a balloon artist. What matters is being together and enjoying a genuine, old-fashioned connection.
The same applies to churches, by the way—some are clearly more fun than others.
Jacobsen: Are there any quotes or aphorisms from Orthodox Judaism that capture your views on community, belonging, or family?
Shaw: There are many, but one stands out. I live by a teaching attributed to Hillel: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Those words shaped my life. On the morning of September 11, when I called my father and told him I was going down to Ground Zero, he said to me, “You are a social worker, and you are a Jew. If you do not help, then who are you?” My mother, of course, said, “Do not go, it is dangerous,” which felt very on brand.
That teaching captures it perfectly. We do not live only for ourselves. That is not who we are. We are more than our individual selves.
Another significant influence for me is Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. He articulated this idea beautifully. One line of his that resonates deeply with me is: “Communities build. They do not destroy. They bring out the best in us, not the worst.”
Those ideas reflect everything we have been talking about. He has some other good ones in the community:
“Community is society with a human face, the place where we know we are not alone.”
“It’s where people know who we are, and miss us when we’re not there.”
“Once we feel that we are really alone and cannot call on neighbours for help, then we are part of a new social poverty.”
Jacobsen: That one is excellent. The idea that when we realize we are truly alone—unable to call on neighbours for help—we enter a form of “social poverty.” That concept feels exactly right.
Shaw: It does. Some of these quotes are very strong.
Jacobsen: I agree. What is missing in society, broadly, is community. That seems almost universal.
Shaw: Absolutely. I am deeply grateful that I have a community. Sometimes it is intrusive—we are very much in each other’s lives—but it is also beautiful.
When people lack community, the consequences are severe. People deteriorate. Some spiral into crisis. Others become isolated and unwell. I recently spoke with someone about a mass shooting in 2023 involving an army reservist who had been showing warning signs. A significant factor was isolation. Self-isolation is deeply connected to depression.
Let me give you an everyday example. When I was told that a medical procedure was not major and that I could still run errands, I laughed. I said, “I am Orthodox. I cannot go grocery shopping without talking to people.” The doctor was confused. But my grocery store is social. You cannot walk into a kosher grocery store, buy one item, and leave without interaction. It is simply not possible.
Jacobsen: I love that example.
Shaw: It illustrates something efficient. I am outgoing, and my profession is inherently social, but this goes beyond personality. People talk at the grocery store. They schmooze. My shopping experience is entirely different from the utilitarian, anonymous experience most people have.
Even something like Costco—yes, it is still Costco—but I will inevitably run into people I know. There will be Jewish families there. There will be Orthodox families there. It is still social.
There is a tension that people do not always understand. On the one hand, there is a desire to say, “We are Orthodox, but we are just like everyone else.” And in many ways, that is true. But in other ways, it is not.
If I run out of eggs and want to bake a cake, I can borrow an egg from my neighbour. That is normal in my community. In much of society, that stopped being normal decades ago—not for you personally, but culturally. There was a time when borrowing a cup of sugar was ordinary. Most people today have never experienced that.
Convenience has benefits, but it also has costs. One negative consequence of convenience is social erosion. My children, however, experience this older form of connection. We can knock on a neighbour’s door. Even now, people may text first, but the expectation of mutual availability still exists.
My grandparents’ generation stopped by. On Shabbat, when you cannot use phones, that kind of visiting was typical. Even today, it is entirely unremarkable for someone to say, “We ran out of eggs—can I borrow one?” That kind of everyday reliance is still alive.
That is community in practice.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Malka.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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William Stern is a finance entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Cardiff, a B2B financing firm operating in North America, Portugal, and Israel. He launched Cardiff in 2004 after seeing many small and lower-middle-market businesses struggle to secure timely, cost-effective capital. Stern emphasizes transparency in rates and margins, relationship-based underwriting, and “ethical financing with a soul,” often using phone conversations rather than purely automated decisions. He describes leadership as a series of consistent, small actions that compound over time. Inside Cardiff, he favours frequent check-ins over annual reviews to support employees as whole people and to protect trust with customers, applicants, and stakeholders.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews William Stern, founder and CEO of Cardiff, about belonging, community, and ethical leadership in finance. Stern says Cardiff began in 2004 to serve businesses “locked out” of timely, cost-effective capital, using transparent B2B pricing and human, phone-based guidance. He connects Jewish ethics to reputation and legacy: do work you would be proud to describe to your family. Stern notes calls with owners can start adversarial because financing is their lifeline, so Cardiff adopts a Switzerland-neutral, facts-first stance. Jacobsen parallels this with Evidence-Based Medicine: evidence first, then values and preferences. Stern says leadership is consistent action that compounds over time.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Okay, so I’ve been interviewing a few people on this concept of belonging and community, and a lot of the people who responded to this pitch were rabbis, primarily Orthodox. So getting a business person is a little more interesting as well. From a business and entrepreneurial perspective, do you incorporate the concept of belonging and community when you think about the business ecosystem?
William Stern: Yes. From the very beginning, we were trying to build a community because when we started in 2004, we felt locked out. I had come from a large company that peddled financing to middle-market companies—think of them as having hundreds of millions in revenue—and they could obtain funding from several sources above the middle market. You would go to publicly traded companies that have the best access, but what is left beneath middle-market companies are the crumbs and leftovers of the market.
They are the forgotten souls of the business community. In large part, those folks were locked out of obtaining financing in a timely and cost-effective way. So we wanted to build this community.
We did not know how. It was one of those situations where you are learning to fly the plane at 10,000 feet. But we knew that to build a company with brand awareness and staying power—because we were not looking to be fly-by-night, make some money, and then sell pistachios the next day, like so many entrepreneurs do—we had to start with an ethos. That ethos was about community.
It was about doing right by people who were locked mainly out of cost-effective, timely financing, doing right by them, and having them spread the gospel of Cardiff.
It is similar to what you would find with the airline Southwest in the United States.
They have a similar ethos around community. Interestingly, you bring it up. They have a model—and I do not know to what extent they employ it in precisely these terms today—but it is often described as a people-first chain: the company takes care of its employees, employees take care of customers, and customers generate results for shareholders.
I learned that early on in my career. There was a Texas lawyer, Herb Kelleher, who co-founded Southwest with businessman Rollin King, and he wanted to do right by people. It was about building a community centred around a low-cost airline.
For the most part, they were among the first to achieve this at scale in the United States. In the face of Delta, United, American, and Pan Am—which ceased operations in 1991—Southwest helped popularize the low-cost, high-frequency model, and that was part of its ethos: building a community.
At Cardiff, we understood that at a very young age. We knew we needed to do right by people and have them serve as the mouthpiece for our marketing because we did not have the money for marketing.
That approach was taught to our employees. Our employees made sure to do right by our customers—or, more accurately, by the applicants. They ushered applicants through the process and gave them advice about their options and what they would do, empathetically, if they were in the business owner’s place.
Just because a business owner wants to apply for financing does not necessarily mean the timing, amount, or rate are right. So it was ethical financing.
It was ethical financing with a soul, which has been challenging to maintain in the age of AI, where computers make most decisions at most companies. We still use this old-school technique: we get on the phone with small business owners who need financing.
So I hope that answers your question.
Jacobsen: You operate in North America, Portugal, and Israel. There are significant Jewish populations in Canada and the United States. Are there particular Jewish values that you see as consistent across Orthodox, secular Jewish, and humanistic Jewish communities that you see infused into the ethos of Cardiff as well, especially when you are talking about ethical financing?
Stern: Financing is among the most ethical forms of business. The reason is that it is transparent—at least the type of financing we extend. We offer B2B financing, and the rate is apparent. There is no ambiguity about the margin for the bank or the financing company.
I used to work at Nordstrom. It is a North American clothing retailer. I worked there while in college, and we sold shoes. I remember thinking—this was twenty to twenty-five years ago—who could afford a shoe that costs $300?
At the time, I wondered what Nordstrom’s margin was. I later learned they bought the shoes for roughly half that price. So they had about $150 in gross margin before paying the lease, employees, utilities, and everything else. The gross revenue was essentially $150 per shoe, and I remember thinking, “Is that ethical?”
If you fast-forward to today—and I will come back to your question—I want to talk briefly about ethics. About a year to a year and a half ago, the media broke a story about luxury goods marketed as made in continental Europe. The question was whether they were actually sewn and fabricated there, or made in Asia using cheap labour and then shipped to Europe, where labels like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, or Yves Saint Laurent were added.
What emerged was that some luxury brands relied on contractors in Europe that used exploitative labour conditions, including factories staffed by undocumented workers, often paid extremely low wages. In those cases, brands contracted out the production of items like purses, and the labour conditions were not ethical.
In business, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation, and a momentary lapse in judgment to lose it.
Coming back to your question about Jewish ethics—whether we are talking about ultra-religious communities at one end of the spectrum or humanistic Judaism at the other—there is an ethos of life that carries into business. You should not do anything you would not feel proud to tell your family about.
It does not matter whether you are a shoemaker or the founder and CEO of a company that finances approximately $2.5 billion a year. The legacy we are building is on full display to our families.
If we care about our children’s legacy—not just in terms of money, but in terms of name, culture, and identity, and yes, religion as well—then that legacy has to be built on a foundation of honesty. So yes, that is the answer to your question.
Jacobsen: When you and your employees get on calls with small business owners, what have you learned about community from them?
Stern: It generally starts hostile. It begins like a terrorist negotiation—between Hamas and some interlocutor—because the U.S. does not want to negotiate directly. Hence, you get an independent third party, maybe the UAE or something like that. There is never really an independent third party. But unfortunately, it does start hostile.
That is because small business owners are consumers. They are not large, faceless corporations where a CFO or controller gets on the phone and is emotionally detached from the financing. A consumer is emotionally attached to this financing because it is their lifeline.
They need the money for a reason—to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. If the process is not designed and executed with excellence, ease, and minimal friction—and if it does not meet their needs—it becomes a problem. It is never about what the company or we want. It is about accommodating the consumer.
Jacobsen: We’re all sublimating.
Stern: Yes, we are supplicating to the consumer. It starts that way. It begins like a terrorist negotiation, where it is cold outside and, to get them talking, you put a donut and a cup of coffee on the table as a way of saying, How can we appease you?
Jacobsen: A North American peace offer.
Stern: That’s right.
Jacobsen: Donut and coffee. Dunkin’ Donuts.
Stern: That’s right.
Jacobsen: A six-dollar deal.
Stern: That’s right. A six-dollar—what is the Canadian coffee company called?
Jacobsen: Tim Hortons.
Stern: Tim Hortons.
Jacobsen: It is funny. When I was a kid, I was on a soccer team, and one of the girls on the team was named Claire Horton. She had a dad named Tim, Tim Horton. No association. His name was Tim Horton, but he was not the Tim Horton. I do not even know if there is a “the,” but there was someone in my childhood.
Stern: There has to be.
Jacobsen: I would hope so, but I do not know.
Stern: Is there a hut that makes pizza? Was there an original Domino? I am just kidding.
Jacobsen: Was there an original domino? I mean, the company is going, and one had to fall. There had to be a domino. There had to be one that fell.
Stern: That’s awesome. I thought you were going to offer me one of those Tim Hortons cards that gives you free coffee for life.
Jacobsen: Someone offered me, when I go on my next war trip. It is all you get at the airport at a reasonable price.
Stern: Has anyone ever told you that you speak incredibly quickly?
Jacobsen: Yes.
Stern: That is a wild talent. Nurture that as best you can.
Jacobsen: I appreciate that very much.
Jacobsen: Often filtered through coffee, that is how it goes for me.
Stern: What was your question? What were we talking about?
Jacobsen: I have another question.
Stern: But if I can close the loop on this part, it starts hostile because they are consumers. They want what they want. They are business owners, often Type A personalities, and they are used to getting what they wish to or walking away—whether or not it benefits them.
That is just how they treat people sometimes. We try to paint a realistic picture. We act like independent journalists.
These are the facts. If it benefits you, you should do it. It stays very third-person. It only becomes first-person to the extent that the relationship permits.
If someone says, “I am not sure what I should do,” someone on our side might say, “Looking at your situation and your financials, if I were you, this might be interesting for these reasons—but you might not want to do it for these reasons.”
That independent, Switzerland-neutral attitude never seeks to take power away from the consumer. It gives them all the facts, all the options, even peripheral options they may not have noticed.
It gives them the information and allows them to retain their power to make the decision that benefits them—whether that is taking the financing or not. I just wanted to make sure I said that.
Jacobsen: I will add an addendum to that. There is an epidemiologist, probably one of the most cited academics in Canada, if not in the country’s history, named Gordon Guyatt at McMaster University. He co-founded Evidence-Based Medicine in 1991. One of his key collaborators has since passed away, but Guyatt is still alive. I have interviewed him many times.
A central principle of Evidence-Based Medicine is that you begin with the quality of evidence—the strength of what you are presenting to a patient, or in your case, to a client. Then you move to values and preferences. The professional says, “Here is the quality of evidence, but it is up to you to decide what you want to do based on your values and preferences, and which course of action fits those best.”
It is the wisest approach because it respects the individual’s autonomy. If you try to force decisions on people, it becomes grating as an interaction anyway, and it is not wise for long-term trust or brand quality. He is a significant figure in medicine.
Stern: I will look him up. That is interesting. Thank you for sharing that.
Jacobsen: I do notice across disciplines and across people’s practices—professionally, culturally, and personally—that there are consistent threads. Sometimes it just takes a narrative to trigger the recognition.
Stern: That is great. I will look him up. I want to read more about that.
Jacobsen: Do you know the Gottmans at all? The Gottmans are the leading researchers on couples and marriage. One of their best-known findings is that the most significant predictor of divorce is the expression of contempt, primarily nonverbal contempt. That is essentially the death knell of a marriage. After that, it is usually a matter of time. If you watch interviews with John Gottman, he often pulls out a notebook and writes things down. I always think that says something about a person’s life practice.
Stern: Oh, like writing things down? Yes, that is funny.
Jacobsen: Mindful.
Stern: I am not a professor or a doctor, but there is a company in the United States called Baron Fig that makes these notebooks. I have an endless supply of them. I love them. I am always writing things down and dating the pages so I can reference them later.
It is definitely an old-school technique. My creative director, because I do a lot of marketing, tried to get me to use an app called GoodNotes on the iPad. I do not get the same feel. I am still stuck in the 1900s, as they say.
Jacobsen: It is tactile sensibility. Margaret Atwood, one of Canada’s most well-known authors, writes her books by hand and then types them out. People develop their own methodologies, and they stick with them.
Stern: That is awesome. That was a cool tangent. I appreciate that.
Jacobsen: So, about leadership: everyone is a leader in some sense, just at different scales. Some people struggle to lead themselves through their day—getting started, organizing themselves, functioning smoothly. Other people, like yourself, are leading companies that deal in billions of dollars.
When it comes to ethical leadership, what does that mean to you? How does leading others give you an added sense of responsibility and accountability—not just to the company, but to the people who depend on you? Accountability and responsibility to yourself, to the brand, and to the people who work for you.
Stern: Got it. I also have trouble waking up in the morning because I am human. Being human means waking up in a warm bed, which is terrific, and not wanting to get out of it.
I remember hearing an interview with Lex Fridman. He is often described as a podcaster, but he is also a scientist who hosts long-form interviews. He was interviewing Jeff Bezos. It was interesting to hear how Bezos starts his day.
He talked about waking up around seven, looking at his phone, having coffee, reading the news, answering some emails, and easing into the morning. It sounded very ordinary and genuine. You can contrast that with the inauthentic life you often see on social media.
Jacobsen: Inauthentic?
Stern: Yes, inauthentic. You see men in their forties or fifties who are perfectly sculpted, hairless, which none of us really are; and they wake up, wiggle their toes in the grass, jump into cold water, journal, and do all of this performative ritual.
None of it feels real. The word I was looking for is “curated.” It feels curated for social media. You were asking about ethos and what leadership looks like. Leadership looks like showing up. That is the core tenet of leadership.
Many entrepreneurs do not realize that leadership is not a philosophy. This is not like chiropractic philosophy. I once went to a chiropractor who started talking about philosophy, and I thought, “Wait, I was hoping we were going to talk about medicine.”
Leadership is not abstract. It is practical. It is about being present, showing up consistently, and taking responsibility.
Leadership is not a philosophy. Leadership is action. Generally speaking, leadership, at least good leadership, consists of small actions that compound over time and create wins for the company, the individuals who work there, and ultimately the stakeholders—the owners.
As for my mornings, since we were talking about Judaism, I start with a prayer. It is called the Shema. I say it every morning and again before I go to bed, but we are talking about mornings.
I say it, and then I thank God because I am genuinely thankful. That is not performative. It took me years to realize that I was grateful, but I am. I thank God for health, happiness, and wealth, in that order, for my loved ones, friends, and family, and lastly for myself.
Why, lastly, for myself? Because at this point in my life, I am forty-six years old, I need to be thankful for everything around me. They are my gravity. They keep me grounded, balanced, and in equilibrium, rather than spinning out of control.
I thank God for that, and then I start my day.
To answer your question about leadership: it consists of small actions. They can be good decisions or bad decisions, but they are made in a timely fashion. Those actions compound over time, creating momentum.
Physics applies here. Momentum is mass times velocity. Many business owners and leaders get this wrong.
Leadership cannot be done in silence. It is not a Buddhist monastery where you pray quietly in the hope of changing the world. I respect that tradition, and it sounds terrific, but that is theory. That is philosophy.
Leadership is not philosophy. Leadership is action.
As a leader, the best thing you can do, while keeping fiduciary responsibility in mind, is to keep taking positive actions to the best of your ability and allow them to compound over time.
I will leave you with this thought. One thing we do not practice at Cardiff is end-of-year reviews. We are not unique in that, but instead, we check in with our people.
Depending on the department, we check in constantly. “Always” is not a day of the week, not a month of the year, and not a holiday. We constantly check in with our people.
We want to understand how people are doing. How is your mother? How is your father? What is going on with your kids? What are you doing outside of work?
We do this because we are human. We are not trying to be their family. We are not trying to be their friends. We are trying to be human—humanistic in our approach—recognizing that everyone has fears, aspirations, and lives outside the company.
The company is a tool. We do not give an annual review to a screwdriver, but work is a tool. It is a tool that provides.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Will.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02
Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks Rick Rosner to compare one of the hardest known IQ-test problems—the three interpenetrating cubes from the Mega Test—to challenges in real-world physics. Rosner situates the puzzle alongside deep problems in group theory, particle classification, and the discovery of fundamental symmetries. He contrasts patience-driven spatial reasoning with the decade-long conceptual grind behind general relativity, highlighting intuition, persistence, and mathematical endurance. Drawing on Einstein, Maxwell, and historical breakthroughs, Rosner argues that elite physics problems share the same core demand as extreme puzzles: sustained visualization, disciplined reasoning, and a willingness to work through complexity step by step.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What would be the real-world physics equivalent, in terms of difficulty, of the three interpenetrating cubes problem from the Mega Test of the Mega Society by Ronald Hoeflin?
Rick Rosner: That is a genuinely good question. It is widely regarded as the hardest problem on the Mega Test, which at the time of its publication was considered the most difficult IQ test in existence.
In physics, I would guess that some of the work involving group theory and the classification of particle families might approach that level of difficulty. I am not well-versed enough in advanced physics to say this with confidence, but there are certainly problems where the solution requires long chains of mathematical reasoning. When you see cartoons of physicists standing in front of blackboards ten feet tall and forty feet wide, filled with equations, that is not pure exaggeration. That kind of work really happens.
Dissecting particle families using group theory, or uncovering deep symmetries in nature, often requires an extraordinary mix of intuition and persistence. Some of those breakthroughs may be comparable, in intellectual difficulty, to solving that cube problem.
There was a woman physicist about a century ago who identified a profound symmetry in physics—its name escapes me at the moment—and Maxwell’s equations themselves are another example of astonishing conceptual achievement. I am not certain whether anyone with enough time and discipline could have worked their way to those results, or whether they required a uniquely rare kind of insight.
People sometimes say that if Einstein had been hit by a bus, someone else would have discovered special relativity within a few years. That might be true for parts of special relativity, which involved working through the implications of a small number of assumptions, such as the constancy of the speed of light. General relativity is different. It began with the insight that a uniformly accelerating frame of reference is indistinguishable, from within that frame, from a gravitational field. Turning that insight into a full mathematical theory took Einstein about ten years, and even then he relied heavily on mathematical input from colleagues.
That kind of work required enormous persistence. The cube problem, by contrast, does not demand brilliance so much as patience: a little intuition followed by a lot of trial, visualization, and diagram-drawing. When I worked on it in the 1980s, that meant sketching endlessly on paper. Today, you would do much of that on a computer, which would make the visualization more flexible.
A lot of high-level physics has that same character. General relativity took a decade of sustained reasoning. Special relativity took months of carefully tracing consequences from simple premises. Many deep mathematical and spatial problems share this quality: you sit with them, visualize them, identify the underlying assumptions, and then grind your way forward step by step.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01
Scott Douglas Jacobsen asks whether it is naïve to look for a discrete “unit” of thought, given that thoughts vary in informational content and rarely arrive as neat sentences. Rick Rosner argues that language captures only a thin slice of cognition: perception, background knowledge, self-critique, and half-formed associations run in parallel as “proto-thoughts.” He uses the example of viewing a painting to show how sensory input and contextual inference accompany any sentence-like notion. Most thoughts, he adds, pass without leaving retrieval “hooks,” much like dreams. Without deliberate encoding—or a later contextual trigger—mental material vanishes, because recall depends on activating the right associative patterns.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Is it a naïve argument to try to identify a discrete, basic constituent of a thought? We have talked about this before, but this is a different framing. Different thoughts can have different informational content, which means the amount of information—or “brain units”—they involve can vary.
When we talk about a thought, we often imagine something fully or partially formed. One way to define an idea might be as whatever neural network brings something into conscious awareness. However, there is also the whole thought itself.
When people talk about thoughts, they usually describe them with words, which constrains discussion by turning thoughts into sentences. People say, “I thought this,” and then provide a sentence. However, that is not really what thoughts look like. You may think of components of a sentence, but you are also experiencing many other things while forming the thought.
Those other elements are also thoughts, or partial thoughts, or proto-thoughts. At the very least, understanding a thought requires the surrounding mental context in which it arises.
Rick Rosner: If you are standing in front of a painting and thinking, artists in the seventeenth century really liked fat asses, that sentence is only a small part of what is happening mentally.
At the same time, you are seeing the painting. You are also thinking that it is not a very original observation. You are not fully articulating it, but you have a background sense that this is common knowledge—that people have noticed this before, that body fat once signalled prosperity. All of that accompanies the sentence-like thought.
You have a collection of incomplete, contextual, semi-thoughts running alongside the main one, which may not even fully crystallize. If you are talking with other people or paying attention to something else, you might register the bodies in the painting and think, Yes, historically that makes sense, but the thought never fully forms into language.
A lot is bubbling up. The neural code for asses will certainly activate—enough neurons associated with “butt” light up. You are clearly seeing a butt, or two butts, or many butts, depending on the painting. You are thinking about butts—but you are also thinking about many other things at the same time.
People like Marcel Proust tried to describe this stream of consciousness. I have never actually read him, but that was the project. Writers like Nicholson Baker have produced books that spend a hundred pages describing an hour or two of someone’s mental life.
It cannot be expressed as a series of sentences, because that is not how thoughts unfold.
Jacobsen: Right, most thoughts are trivial nonsense.
Rosner: Most thoughts pass through us. We have them—or half have them—and we do not even remember them, because they do not trigger a chain of further thinking. It is like dreams. If you wake up and do not actively try to remember a dream, you usually will not, because there are not enough hooks to retrieve it later.
Unless you build hooks by writing them down, the dream disappears.
I had a Kimmel dream last night. I often dream that I am back at Kimmel. Nobody really wants me there. I am not getting paid. They are reluctantly letting me hang out and submit ideas, and I am hoping to get rehired. I have that dream a lot.
In last night’s version, I do not remember most of it. What I remember is a sense of sadness, because it has been so long since I worked there, and because they had installed new wood panelling. In the dream, the room I was in had wood panelling, and I remember thinking, That is new.
That is basically all I remember, because I did not sit down afterward and try to reconstruct the rest. I have had enough Kimmel dreams to recognize them when they happen.
I remember the wood panelling because I am currently in the one room of my house that has wood panelling. Usually, though, you do not remember dreams at all. Occasionally, something happens hours later that triggers a memory—some feature of the environment grabs a hook from the dream and pulls it back into awareness. However, most of the time, that does not happen.
You usually forget dreams completely because the hooks are hard to grab. Dreams are structured in such a strange way. They contain so many scrambled elements of your thinking that it is unlikely anything in your waking life will activate enough of those elements to pull the dream back up.
Retrieval depends on contextual association. You have to activate enough of the right neural patterns for something to signify and return to awareness.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Justine Reichman is the Founder and CEO of NextGen Purpose, a sustainability-focused platform that works at the intersection of food systems, consumer behaviour, and everyday environmental practice. Based in San Francisco, she is also the host and executive producer of the Essential Ingredients podcast, which highlights innovators, founders, and practitioners advancing regenerative and responsible approaches to living and consumption. Reichman’s work emphasizes practical sustainability—reducing waste, rethinking habits, and favouring durability over disposability—without moralizing or perfectionism. Drawing on experience in entrepreneurship, community building, and media, she advocates for intention-driven change that fits real lives rather than abstract ideals.
In this conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Justine Reichman about practical, non-performative sustainability rooted in daily habits rather than guilt or moral pressure. Reichman outlines strategies such as eating in to reduce packaging, managing food before it spoils, buying in bulk, and planning meals for flexibility and minimal waste. She extends this logic to hosting events, home design, and fashion—favouring durability, vintage, and upcycled materials over fast consumption. The discussion also addresses greenwashing, corporate responsibility, and why sustainable change works best when framed around intention, accessibility, and personal meaning rather than shame or perfection.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are simple daily habits that make sustainability part of everyday life?
Justine Reichman: As of the start of 2026, I am trying to eat at home more. It is a new goal for me, and I am approaching it in a small, thoughtful, and mindful way rather than as a rigid rule. That is a big one for me. If I want something while I am out, I eat it at the restaurant rather than taking it home in additional packaging. In my experience, many people take food back to their office or home, and eating in helps me be more mindful about packaging. So that is one. Was that too long? Nope. Okay, because you can always edit.
The second thing I do is check my fridge every day to see what’s about to spoil, so I can use it before it goes bad. If it is fruit, I freeze it in ice cube trays. If it is vegetables, I make juice out of them. Those are simple things that I do.
The third thing I try to be sustainable about isn’t a daily habit; it’s about my dog food. Instead of buying products with a lot of packaging, we buy them in bulk—ten-pound quantities—and then separate them into our own containers. I mention this because, in my experience, many “healthy” food products still come with substantial packaging.
Jacobsen: What about being mindful and using leftovers when you are not going to eat them immediately?
Reichman: That is one of the first things we do. This year, I am trying to carve out Sundays to plan meals, choose what I want to make, and buy ingredients that can be used across multiple dishes. I often get bored eating the same thing, but I still want to use the food before it spoils. Instead of making one dish with those ingredients, I make two or three different dishes. The ingredients go further, I get more variety, and I eat at home more.
Jacobsen: What about events? Hypothetically, you are hosting an event—family, friends, or a club you belong to. Do you apply the same bulk-thinking approach?
Reichman: Yes, I do. It depends on the event. Many of the events I plan, at least personally, are for holidays, which are centred around specific foods. If it is a Jewish holiday, it is about the foods I grew up eating. I make enough for everyone, but I generally make smaller portions so people can try everything, and we finish it. Instead of producing vast quantities—which are harder to prepare and can leave more leftovers—people get to taste a little of everything. That is usually what they want anyway.
I can offer one more sustainable tip for holidays or parties. Instead of buying cut flowers, which are temporary and can be expensive, I use potted plants that I already have around the house. When I host a party, I place them in the center of the table. They make a lovely decoration and last beyond a single event.
Jacobsen: Are there certain Jewish dishes or holidays where sustainability becomes more challenging?
Reichman: It depends on how you look at it. With Hanukkah, for example, there is Hanukkah gelt, and each piece is individually wrapped in foil. Aluminum is widely recyclable in principle, but whether small pieces of foil or wrappers are accepted depends on local recycling rules and on whether the material is clean and large enough to be sorted. So the individual wrapping can still create waste. I usually buy one small package and then supplement with regular chocolates to reduce packaging.
That is the example that stands out to me. More broadly, sustainability has a lot to do with how we plan and portion meals. I like abundance, but I think of abundance as variety rather than quantity. That approach can reduce food waste and still allow everyone to taste a little of everything.
Jacobsen: What about sustainability and aesthetics, the choices you make in home décor and clothing?
Reichman: I used to work at a horse farm, so I needed both protection and warmth. I wore long-sleeve shirts made of UV-protective, quick-drying fabric. None of them was white because farm work gets dirty, and I could wash them all in the same load. It is a small thing, but I used them repeatedly for many different purposes.
As for décor, my house is intentionally put together. I bought it in 2021, and during the renovation, I chose vintage and antique pieces. That means the items were pre-owned rather than newly manufactured, and we repurposed them for our home.
Other choices included a kitchen renovation and installing an induction stove, which is generally considered more energy-efficient and avoids on-site fossil fuel combustion compared to a gas stove. That was a deliberate choice. In terms of appliances, I chose brands such as Fisher & Paykel, which position themselves as more sustainability-focused than many other kitchen appliance brands. More broadly, when it came to home décor, I leaned heavily into antiques and vintage pieces.
I also leaned into buying appliances that were more efficient and designed to last. As for clothing, I have kept much of my wardrobe for a very long time—some pieces since high school, which was a long time ago. I tend to hold on to clothing rather than constantly replacing it. My grandmother ran a consignment store, and I still have many of her handbags, because she kept high-quality pieces for herself and for my mother. That influence carries through in how I live my life.
I try to invest in things that are meant to last—pieces that stand the test of time. It is not fast fashion. I am still wearing the same trench coat I bought in my early twenties. Classic styles do not really go out of fashion. That matters to me. I wear a lot of white shirts for the same reason. They are timeless. I try not to chase trends, even though I love fashion.
When I think about sustainability and fashion, I also pay attention to the ethos of the brands themselves—who is making the clothing and how. I look for companies that use upcycled materials or more sustainable fabrics. In denim, for example, there is a company called ELV Denim that reconstructs old Levi’s jeans into new pieces. That is one example. There are others I shop from as well, such as Citizens of Humanity, and other brands that use organic cotton or upcycled fabrics. I tend to support those.
I also shop vintage. You can find really special pieces that work either for special occasions or to add something unique to your wardrobe—something not everyone else is wearing.
Jacobsen: Vintage shopping can take time. How do you approach that?
Reichman: It does take time. But now, so much of it is online. There are many online vintage shops and resale platforms where people sell their own clothing. The real question is whether you know what you are looking for or whether you are just scrolling. It can feel like a kid in a candy store.
I already have what I need at this point. So if I buy something new, it has to be truly special. I encourage other people to think that way because most of us already have enough. When you think about it, you usually reach for the same items over and over again. I know I do. You go back to the same pieces because they are easy and familiar.
Jacobsen: Right, you mix and match.
Reichman: You mix and match, and you can create entirely different looks for different occasions from the same core wardrobe. That is precisely what I do.
I also love that vintage shopping is part of a journey. A few years ago, when I was in Paris, there were many great vintage shops. I went with my partner, who has a good eye. He picked things out, and I tried them on. I found amazing pieces—designs I had admired years ago—that were pre-owned but still looked great.
Part of the enjoyment is the process itself: going through items, discovering what you love, seeing what fits. Vintage sizing can be inconsistent because sizing standards have changed over time. A size two decades ago is not necessarily the same as a size two today. You have to set that aside and focus on whether it fits, feels good, and suits you. If it does, that is a win.
Jacobsen: What about people who hate shopping? Even clicking around online feels like a chore for them. By temperament, let us call them minimalist by inclination, maybe even resistant to consumption.
Reichman: Shop your own closet and swap with friends. Most of us have clothes we no longer wear or that no longer fit quite right. Swapping with friends gives you access to more clothing, new ideas, and new outfits. It is social, and it can be fun. But if you do not like being social and do not want to do that, there is another option some people are using.
Some retailers allow customers to buy items and then sell them back to the store, where the items are resold. The terminology varies, and not everyone uses the same language, but the idea is a form of resale within the retail system. Sometimes people buy something for a specific occasion, return it within a defined time frame, and the store resells it in a designated resale section.
I would have to double-check specific brands, and I do not want to state this as a firm fact, but some clothing companies have experimented with this kind of resale model. More broadly, some stores are doing versions of this.
When it comes to higher-end items, selling them through resale or vintage shops can feel disappointing because you often do not recover much of what you originally paid. I would rather give an item to a friend and swap it with her. That feels better to me. I know where it is going, I know she is enjoying it, and I receive something meaningful in return. I value that exchange.
Jacobsen: There is also a broader critique here, sometimes called “greenwashing”, where sustainability is framed as individual responsibility, even though corporate policy and structural factors play a significant role. Some people argue the problem is a matter of personal choice; others argue it is corporate behaviour. In reality, it is both, and we are all operating inside the same system.
Reichman: I agree. If we do not demand change, create demand for change, or model what change can look like, we are not going to get it. At the same time, I do not believe in shaming people. Not everyone can do everything. Sustainability is less about perfection and more about intention—focusing on what is meaningful and realistic for you. We are not going to solve every problem individually.
Jacobsen: Modern audiences tend to resist moralizing. The cultural landscape is flattened; everyone has a voice, and lecturing people is rarely effective. That approach may have worked in smaller, more homogeneous communities, but it does not generate traction now.
Reichman: It is about encouraging people to do what matters to them. When people feel good about what they are doing, they are more likely to stick with it. They feel successful and engaged. If we shame people by focusing only on what they are not doing, they end up feeling defeated rather than motivated.
Jacobsen: That makes sense. Thank you for your time today.
Reichman: Thank you so much.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
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Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
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Joydip Ghosh is a quantum physicist with more than 17 years of experience spanning defence, aerospace, automotive innovation, and academia. He is the Founder and CEO of Owlyard and previously served as Quantum Computing Lead at Ford Motor Company and as a Staff Transformational Physicist at Northrop Grumman. Ghosh’s work focuses on quantum computing, quantum information, and the translation of foundational physics into real-world applications. He is internationally recognized for contributions to quantum control, error correction, and for advancing the interface between theory, industry, and science education.
In this conversation, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Joydip Ghosh about the philosophical and scientific foundations of quantum mechanics. Ghosh explains why many ontological questions—such as the nature of the wave function and the measurement problem—are difficult to resolve within science’s requirement for testability. He traces the historical development from early quantum theory to Bell’s theorem, clarifying why no single interpretation has been experimentally confirmed. Ghosh emphasizes Hilbert space as the arena of quantum evolution and describes quantum mechanics’ central achievement: reliably connecting abstract mathematical dynamics to concrete, probabilistic measurement outcomes in the classical world.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Is there a philosophy-of-physics answer, or at least a framing, within quantum mechanics that addresses its ontology—how the universe actually operates? According to experts, quantum mechanics is among the most empirically successful theories in science.
Joydip Ghosh: Any philosophical question about quantum mechanics is complicated. Often, the answer may not lie entirely within the realm of science as science is usually practiced. Science requires that proposed answers be testable. They must satisfy the criteria of experiment, observation, and inference. There must be an experimental setup.
Many philosophical questions about the reality of the quantum state—where it belongs and how it relates to consciousness, sensory organs, and perception—can be stated, but science demands more. Science asks for an experimental setup that can distinguish between competing answers. That is the tricky part.
This has been a central difficulty since the early development of quantum mechanics. In 1925, Heisenberg (with Born and Jordan) developed matrix mechanics, and in 1926, Schrödinger developed wave mechanics; these were shown to be equivalent formulations of the same theory.
Einstein did not deny quantum theory’s practical success, but he strongly questioned whether it was a complete description of physical reality—particularly given its probabilistic character and the implications of entanglement raised by the EPR argument. Later, John Bell showed that some of these disputes were experimentally addressable by demonstrating that local hidden-variable theories cannot reproduce all quantum predictions. Bell’s result dates to 1964, and increasingly stringent experimental tests followed in subsequent decades.
Even with those advances, not all foundational questions become experimentally decidable. We still do not have a universally accepted resolution of the macroscopic-versus-microscopic transition in measurement—how definite outcomes arise from quantum dynamics. This is the quantum measurement problem.
Jacobsen: Is the wave function a physical object, a field, or a catalogue of knowledge and expectations? If it is information, whose information is it? If it is real, why does it behave so unlike other objects in physics?
Ghosh: Within quantum mechanics and information theory, a connection has been established between information and physics: information is physical. For example, the zero and one in a classical computer correspond to two different physical states of a transistor. With quantum mechanics and quantum computing, information theory addresses how quantum information is encoded in the wave function of a quantum mechanical system. Whether the wave function itself is physical depends on the interpretation one adopts. Most physicists historically have worked within what is called the Copenhagen interpretation.
Under the Copenhagen interpretation, the wave function is physical in the sense that it is used to calculate probabilities of physical measurement outcomes. This does not imply that Copenhagen is the only viable interpretation. That was the point I was making in our earlier discussion. If one claims that a single interpretation is correct, one must propose an experiment that rules out all others, and that is not easy to do. Quantum mechanics does not lend itself naturally to that kind of exclusivity.
Within the Copenhagen interpretation, the wave function is treated as a physical quantity, but it does not exist in the space we perceive with our senses. It exists in a mathematically defined space called Hilbert space. The relationship between Hilbert space and the three-dimensional Euclidean space we inhabit is itself a source of many ontological questions. Is Hilbert space physical?
There is no unanimous answer within the physics community. Some physicists argue that, since a quantum state evolves in Hilbert space, and if one assumes the wave function is physical under the Copenhagen interpretation, then the space in which it evolves should also be considered physical. However, the debate continues because there is no way to establish Copenhagen as the only valid interpretation.
There is also an educational dimension. People often ask how to visualize Hilbert space, or whether it can be visualized at all. Hilbert spaces are typically infinite-dimensional, with bases that, in some instances, can be mathematically connected to the physical space we inhabit. These connections are often treated as analogies, which then become tools for physics education rather than literal pictures of reality.
Ultimately, questions about the physicality of the wave function or the space in which it resides depend on the interpretation a physicist adopts.
Jacobsen: One last question, quickly, before we are cut off. We can rejoin afterward using the same link. What is quantum mechanics fundamentally pointing to as the underlying substrate of reality?
Ghosh: Quantum mechanics tells us that when we enter the quantum regime—whether for microscopic particles or specific mesoscopic systems that are sufficiently isolated and cold so that their constituents behave coherently—the system evolves in a space that is fundamentally different from the space we inhabit.
One of the significant achievements of quantum mechanics is establishing a connection between the space of quantum evolution and the classical space in which our measurement devices operate. A quantum system evolves in a higher-dimensional mathematical space, commonly called Hilbert space, and this evolution can be described by relatively compact equations, most notably the Schrödinger equation.
Measurement, by contrast, requires applying additional rules that connect the quantum description to classical outcomes. The triumph of quantum mechanics lies in showing that although a system evolves in this abstract space, the results of that evolution can be consistently related to observations made with classical instruments in ordinary space.
In the quantum regime, a system does not evolve in the space we ordinarily inhabit. However, when we attempt to measure that system and obtain results, quantum mechanics provides a consistent framework for doing so through its equations. I will not describe those equations in detail here, but they play a role analogous to Newton’s equations of motion in classical physics.
The difference is that fundamental quantities such as position and momentum do not have deterministic values in the quantum regime. Instead, the formalism inherently accommodates their probabilistic interpretation when we calculate measurable outcomes. This is one way to think about quantum mechanics and the evolution of a quantum system in Hilbert space.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much. We are about to be disconnected.
Ghosh: Sure. No problem.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
