Archives for August 2022

A man has seemingly taught his pet cat to copy him and laugh like a human, posting the evidence in a TikTok video that has gone viral.

In the footage, added to the video-sharing app by Mason Glaso, known online as @maseplace, a ginger cat can be seen copying its owner by laughing in an eerily similar manner.

The clip begins with Glaso telling viewers: “Guys, I taught my cat to laugh. Okay ready? Hold on.” He then proceeds to say “Can I get a ‘ha ha’?”

Remarkably, the feline then opens its mouth and mimics the sounds.

He then says “Ha ha haaa,” and the cat again copies, before finally trying “hahaha,” which is echoed by his pet once more.

The footage was posted on May 28 and has since gone viral online, having received more than 24.2 million views and surpassed 7.5 million likes.

Many rushed to the comments section to share their thoughts on the video.

One TikTok user, Anna Leah Pasigna, wrote: “I watched it many times.”

Another person, Kara_Carrot, added: “That laugh kills me.”

Olivia typed: “I’ve got so much cat training to do.”

Anthony Jimenez commented: “That’s adorable.”

Leticia Delarosa stated: “Wow I have failed my cats! I just got a new kitten it’s over!!”

An account holder known as user3432256917613 asked: “Hello? Where can I get a cat like that?”

And if funny felines are what you like to read about, this heartwarming clip of a cat and a baby deer playing together is a must-see.

On May 11, the footage was shared to TikTok by Taylor Hoff, known online as taylorhoff08.

In the clip, the pair nuzzle up together, with the pet at one point wrapping his tail around the fawn.

The duo then touch noses, clearly getting acquainted with one another, in a scene that appears to have been lifted right out of a wholesome cartoon.

Hoff captioned the video, writing: “new Disney movie: the cat and the deer. #lewisthedeer #walterthecat #fyp.”

Additionally, this clip of a white cat learning to pant in order to copy its canine friends is absolutely adorable.

The video was posted on May 17, by user @eugeniozbbz12, along with the caption: “A cat becomes a dog #pet #cat #dog #catanddog #catlover #dogsoftiktok.”

It has been viewed by 13.7 million people and received over 3.2 million likes.

Welp, we finally confirmed what we’ve suspected for a long time: Heart Evangelista *did* audition for a role in the 2018 blockbuster hit Crazy Rich Asians! In Dr. Aivee Teo‘s latest vlog where Heart was the guest, the 36-year-old multi-hyphenate revealed that she auditioned for the role of Araminta Lee, the billionaire hotel chain heiress in the said movie.

In the vlog, Dr. Aivee and Heart reacted to some of their old photos. One of the pictures shown was a side-by-side of Heart with Gemma Chan (who played Astrid Leong in the movie). It was then that Heart revealed that she auditioned, though not for the role of Astrid.

“I actually did audition talaga,” Heart shared. “They were already in the last leg of their auditions and I got a call, and I said, ‘You know, sige na, I might as well do it na.”

She divulged that the audition took place in the Philippines, where she hired a crew to shoot her as she acted out some scenes. After sending the video, she woke up to 10 (!!!) missed calls from the agent in L.A. They wanted to tell her that they were very curious about her, but her presentation paused in right in the middle. They were, however, willing to take a break if she could resend the file. OMG.

After that, they asked if she was available to shoot and Heart was game! The ending, though? They never got back to her. Heart was a total sport about it and said that “there’s always a reason for everything.”

We totes would’ve loved to see Heart in the *iconic* wedding scene, though!

Watch Dr. Aivee’s full vlog below:

Follow Cheska on Instagram.

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Most of us have been enjoying the wit of Tumblr for years but almost none of us have an account. Or at least, we wouldn’t talk about it. Tumblr is weird like that. Great posts, but we get them secondhand.

Here’s the best of the week from Tumblr Gets Deep:

Bill Roggio is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD’s Long war Journal. From 1991 to 1997, Roggio served as a signalman and infantryman in the U.S. Army and New Jersey National Guard 

Wishful thinking has the upper hand in the battle to shape Western perceptions of the war in Ukraine.

Sympathy for the outnumbered and outgunned defenders of Kyiv has led to the exaggeration of Russian setbacks, misunderstanding of Russian strategy, and even baseless claims from amateur psychoanalysts that Putin has lost his mind.

A more sober analysis shows that Russia may have sought a knockout blow, but always had well-laid plans for follow-on assaults if its initial moves proved insufficient.

The world has underestimated Putin before and those mistakes have led, in part, to this tragedy in Ukraine.

We must be clear-eyed now that the war is underway.

Yet even the professionals at the Pentagon are letting sympathy cloud their judgement.

Just two days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Department of Defense briefers were quick to claim that failing to take Kyiv in the opening days of the war amounted to a serious setback.

DoD briefers implied that Russia’s offensive was well behind schedule or had even failed because the capital had not fallen.

But U.S. leaders should have learned to restrain their hopes after their catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Once again, U.S. and Western officials are falling into the trap of failing to understand the enemy and his objectives.

A look at the Russian military offensive demonstrates there was a plan for a full-scale invasion, which Russia is now executing.

Allegedly, Putin believed that the Ukrainian government would collapse once Russian troops crossed the frontier and pushed to Kyiv, and that the operation has failed because the Ukrainian government remains in place.

Putin certainly hoped for a swift victory, but he clearly was not relying on his opening salvo as the only plan for success.

Rather, the Russian military was prepared to take the country by force if a swift decapitation strike fell short.

This kind of plan should be familiar to Americans who remember the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In the first hours of the war, the U.S. Air Force launched its ‘shock and awe’ campaign in an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein and other key leaders and bring down the government. Saddam survived, but the U.S. military was fully prepared to follow up with a ground assault.

A look at the Russian military offensive demonstrates there was a plan for a full-scale invasion, which Russia is now executing.

Conventional, mechanized warfare is a time and resource consuming enterprise, and an operation of this scope isn’t cobbled together in days.

The Russian offensive is taking place on four separate fronts. On a fifth front, in eastern Ukraine, which Putin declared independent last week, Russian forces are tying down Ukrainian troops that are needed elsewhere.

The bulk of the Russian forces are advancing southward from Belarus to Kyiv.

Russian advance forces, including air, mobile and reconnaissance troops, have been engaged with Ukrainian troops outside of Kyiv since the start of the war.

A massive column of Russian troops, estimated at over 40 miles long, is just 20 miles north of Kyiv, and is likely assembling to surround the capital.

If Russian forces can take Kyiv and push southward to link up with forces on the Crimean front, thus splitting Ukraine in two, it would be a major blow to the Zelensky government.

What matters more than a handful of setbacks is that Russian forces have pushed 70 miles into contested terrain in less than a week and are on the outskirts of the capital.

A massive column of Russian troops, estimated at over 40 miles long, is just 20 miles north of Kyiv, and is likely assembling to surround the capital.

This is not a sign of a disorganized, poorly assembled, and failed offensive.

The southward push from Belarus to Kyiv is supported by another Russian column, launched from the east in the vicinity of Kursk.

If this column can link up with Russian troops near Kyiv, it will envelop Ukrainian forces in most of Chernihiv and Sumy provinces, depriving the Ukrainian military of much needed soldiers and war material needed elsewhere, and cutting off the government from two northern provinces.

Further east, Russian forces have launched a broad offensive aimed at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, which is now under siege.

In the south, Russian forces, supported by amphibious assaults from the Sea of Azov, have poured into Ukraine from Crimea.

On this front, Russian forces have branched out along two main axes, one northwest along the Pivdennyi Buh River, and another northeast along the coast and inland towards the Donbas region, which Russia declared independent shortly before the invasion.

If Russian columns from either southern front can link up with forces further north, they would cut off many Ukrainian troops from reinforcement—one of the two columns has already advanced roughly 160 miles.

Russian generals have often chosen to bypass towns and cities that are putting up stiff opposition and isolating them to deal with later.

There are reports that Russian forces have escalated attacks on civilians, particularly in Kharkiv.

At the moment, the artillery and rocket attacks there have been limited, perhaps to send a message to the citizens as a warning of what may come.

Putin appears to want to take Ukraine intact, but will not hesitate to increase the level of brutality if needed.

The systematic nature of the Russian assault is at odds with speculation that Putin has lost control of his senses.

Nobody knows for sure, but Putin’s actions appear to be that of a cold and calculating adversary.

Dismissing his decision to invade Ukraine as a form of madness is effectively an excuse to ignore Putin’s likely motivations and future actions.

Strategically, Putin’s advance on Ukraine began well over a decade ago, when he invaded and Balkanized Georgia by recognizing the Kremlin’s puppet regimes in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Believing Russia’s assault is going poorly may make us feel better but is at odds with the facts.

In 2014, Putin occupied and annexed the strategic Ukrainian region of Crimea, which served as a launchpad for the current invasion.

Putin paid little price for either action.

The United States and Europe imposed limited sanctions but continued to engage with him on the Iranian nuclear deal and other top issues.

Today, Putin has calculated that taking Ukraine by force is in his and Russia’s interest.

He no doubt anticipated that the West would impose diplomatic and economic sanctions, which U.S. and European leaders threatened beforehand.

Putin may have miscalculated Ukrainian resistance and the intensity of the West’s opposition, but it doesn’t mean he is crazy, or didn’t consider the possibilities and chose to invade regardless.

It remains to be seen if Putin’s plan will succeed or fail, but what is clear is that there was a plan to invade Ukraine in force, and that plan has been executed since day one.

Ukrainian troops are putting up a valiant fight facing long odds and difficult conditions. Russia holds most if not all of the advantages.

It can, and has, attacked Ukraine from three different directions. The Russian military holds a decided advantage in manpower, as well as air, naval and armor superiority.

It has vast resources to draw on. While Ukraine has the support of much of the international community, which is providing weapons, Ukraine is fighting alone.

Believing Russia’s assault is going poorly may make us feel better but is at odds with the facts.

We cannot help Ukraine if we cannot be honest about its predicament.