When I first saw this, I thought it was one of those satire stories. It wasn't. John Kerry - a former Secretary of State - rthinks the worst thing about the Ukraine invasion is the carbon footprint it will leave.
You can't make this stuff up.
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Former Secretary of State and current Climate Envoy John Kerry said in BBC interview that he’s really concerned about the carbon footprint of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and he hopes it doesn’t distract the world from focusing on climate change (bonus: stick around for the part where Kerry thinks Vladimir Putin is concerned about warming temperatures that will make large parts of Russia habitable in the coming decades):
You could easily believe that he has outsourced speechwriting to the “Babylon Bee”…. So pathetic. They always have to “circle back” any news to one of their talking points. There was a BLM spokesperson yesterday that got brutalized online for a tweet asking if Putin was the way he was because of white supremacy… asking if he was a black or Brown Russians man, would the world still be so dismissive of his aggression!
They really are this dumb. This circling back any news to an agenda talking point was actually pioneered by Karl Marx when he was a radical newspaper writer and editor.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
There are reports of of Ukrainians clearing out gun shops and arming themselves with AK-47's. There are significant protests in Moscow and elsewhere, with reportedly over 150 people arrested - a number sure to rise. And the Russian stock market is tanking, and interest rates of Russian bonds are soaring.
“They Didn’t Hear What We Told Them. They Had Better Hear This Time.” — Vladimir Putin
By Paul Craig Roberts
PaulCraigRoberts.org
Think back to 2014 when the US overthrew the Ukrainian government and installed a neo-Nazi regime. The neocons were smirking, laughing at how easy it was to buffalo the Russians. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland publicly bragged about how the US had spent $5 billion dollars preparing the overthrow of Ukraine. Much cheering of how Ukraine would now be used to destabilize Russia and seize the Russian Black Sea naval base.
After a long frustrating, humiliating 8 years of trying to get the West’s attention that this was not a scheme Russia could accept, and after one last effort which got nowhere, Russia has acted.
In his speech this morning Putin explained the long years of Russian frustration in her efforts to achieve mutual security with the West which remained intent on its own domination. Here are opening words from Putin’s address:
“I consider it necessary today to speak again about the tragic events in Donbass and the key aspects of ensuring the security of Russia. I will begin with what I said in my address on February 21, 2022. I spoke about our biggest concerns and worries, and about the fundamental threats which irresponsible Western politicians created for Russia consistently, rudely and unceremoniously from year to year. I am referring to the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border. It is a fact that over the past 30 years we have been patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries regarding the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we invariably faced either cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail, while the North Atlantic alliance continued to expand despite our protests and concerns. Its military machine is moving and, as I said, is approaching our very border. Why is this happening? Where did this insolent manner of talking down from the height of their exceptionalism, infallibility and all-permissiveness come from? What is the explanation for this contemptuous and disdainful attitude to our interests and absolutely legitimate demands? The answer is simple. Everything is clear and obvious. In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union grew weaker and subsequently broke apart. That experience should serve as a good lesson for us, because it has shown us that the paralysis of power and will is the first step towards complete degradation and oblivion. We lost confidence for only one moment, but it was enough to disrupt the balance of forces in the world.”
The imbalance of force has been corrected, and since force is all that the West understands, Russia is using force to end the use of Ukraine as a pawn against Russia. In the past the stupid and arrogant West ignored Russia’s warnings. In his address this morning Putin gave another warning. If the dumbshit Western leaders do not hear this warning, the West will cease to exist:
“I would now like to say something very important for those who may be tempted to interfere in these developments from the outside. No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history. No matter how the events unfold, we are ready. All the necessary decisions in this regard have been taken. I hope that my words will be heard.” Update on the Ukrainian situation
Ukrainian resistance seems to have ceased as its infrastructure was put out of operation. Only a few neo-Nazi militias trapped within the Donbass territories continue to offer resistance.
Russian paratroopers captured Kiev airport. Hours ago the Russian forces had reached the Dnieper and approached the suburbs of Kiev. Ukraine has lost its air force, air defense, navy, and all military airports. With the destruction of 83 military facilities, the infrastructure of the Ukraine military has been wiped out.
The neo-Nazis will be held accountable. Ukraine will be required to renounce NATO membership, demilitarize, and renounce all claims to Crimea and the independent republics. Ukrainian soldiers will be permitted to return home to their families.
Unlike the Americans and NATO, the Russians have avoided attacking any civilian areas and the barracks and residences of military units.
German readers write to me that they are sitting in front of TVs laughing at their idiot politicians promising that Putin’s imperialism won’t go unanswered, promising more energy sanctions against the German people and facing compensation claims from German investors in the Nord 2 Pipeline. German defense officials admit that they are toothless and have no capability of sending troops even to protect NATO members, much less Ukraine.
The Europeans should have thought many times before they enabled Washington’s war crimes in Serbia and the Middle East. Putin said war criminals will be held accountable. I think he means it.
The European governments are such stupid idiots that it did not occur to them to wonder what happens if Russia responds to sanctions by cutting off the gas supply. Earlier today I asked what is Germany’s fate if Russia replies to sanctions with sanctions? Leon Birnbaum, president of E.ON, one of Europe’s largest operators of energy networks, said that if Russia cuts gas flow to Germany, Germany´s industry would have to be cut off from the power grid.
It is difficult to imagine people so totally stupid and self-defeating as the ones Western peoples trust with leadership. Indeed, Western “leaders” are so totally stupid they may well get us wiped off the face of the earth.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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#177546 02/26/202201:10 AM02/26/202201:10 AM
I don’t get how they can get away with calling the Ukrainian government “neo nazi”…. The head of its government is from a Jewish family with many ancestors and relatives killed in concentration camps! This is a Russian/Putin talking point that is often used by Russian politicians to drum up Russian nationalism and unity drawing on deep emotions from the “great patriotic war” (ww2).
I also don’t get how anyone can with a straight face honestly claim that a DEFENSIVE alliance is threatening! To do so is to inadvertently admit to having expansionary plans of your own against your neighbors. It’s akin to your neighbor being offended and threatened by your installing a security system and getting a large dog. This proves that he was planning on looting your house and your security plan would make that impossible.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
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#177547 02/26/202201:48 AM02/26/202201:48 AM
Ukraine supported the Nazi's 80 years ago and many Neo Nazi groups exist there today. It proves nothing that Zelinski is Jewish. Soros is a Jew who collaborated with the Nazi's to save his own ass. Nato has been pushing eastward towards the Russian border for years; something Putin has repeatedly warned against. Zelinski is a puppet installed by the obama administration and the neo cons in 2014. He has been used in a proxy war with Russia ever since. When Zelinski mentioned that he might use nukes, that was the last straw for Putin. Can't say as I blame him. I remember the Cuban missile crisis quite well when the roles were reversed.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
February 26, 2022
(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the Ukraine crisis right now:
HEADLINES
* A defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv remained under Ukrainian control on Saturday as Russian forces renewed their assault, pounding the capital and other cities with artillery and cruise missiles.
* In a sea of blue and yellow flags and banners, protesters around the world showed their support for the people of Ukraine and called on governments to do more to help Kyiv, punish Russia and avoid a broader conflict.
* Germany changed its position about imposing restrictions on Russia’s access to the SWIFT global interbank payment system, joining other Western powers in support of harsher sanctions aimed at halting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
* The EU is in talks over a third package of sanctions on Russia, an EU diplomat told Reuters.
* Ukraine denied suggestions that it was refusing to negotiate a ceasefire with Russia but said it was also not ready to accept ultimatums or unacceptable conditions.
* Turkey has not made a decision to close the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to Russian ships, a Turkish official told Reuters.
* Russian Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said Chechen fighters had been deployed to Ukraine.
* The mayor of Kyiv extended a curfew in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday.
* Britain’s defence ministry said the Russian advance into Ukraine had temporarily slowed, probably because of logistical problems and strong resistance.
* Russian troops captured the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Russia’s defence ministry said. But British armed forces minister James Heappey said Britain did not believe Russian forces had captured Melitopol.
* Refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to pour across its western borders on Saturday, with around 100,000 reaching Poland in two days.
* Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) denied a report earlier on Saturday that Russian helicopters had landed in the Lviv region, a development that would have signalled a widening of the theatre of Moscow’s invasion.
* Russia will respond to the seizure of money of Russian citizens and companies abroad by seizing funds of foreigners and foreign companies in Russia, RIA news agency quoted Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the security, as saying.
* The Ukrainian border guards service said on Saturday Russia had closed off the northwestern part of the Black Sea to navigation.
* Russian forces are becoming increasingly frustrated by what the United States believes is “viable” and very determined Ukrainian resistance, a U.S. defence official said.
* Pope Francis called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and expressed his “most profound pain” for the country’s suffering.
* Twitter is being restricted for some users in Russia, the social media company said in a tweat on Saturday.
* The official website of the Kremlin, kremlin.ru, was down on Saturday, following reports of denial of service (DDoS) attacks on various other Russian government and state media websites.
* The Ukrainian government has instructed power stations to switch to natural gas to preserve strategic coal reserves, the head of the country’s biggest private power producer said.
* At least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Health Ministry was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
* France has decided to send defensive military equipment to Ukraine to support the country against Russia’s invasion, a French army spokesman said, adding the issue of sending offensive arms was still under consideration.
* Russian energy giant Gazprom said it was supplying gas via Ukraine in line with demand from European consumers despite the military conflict.
* French sea police seized a ship on Saturday that authorities suspect belongs to a Russian company targeted by European Union sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the Ukrainian military to overthrow the country’s leadership and negotiate peace.
* Russia vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Friday that would have deplored Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, while China abstained from the vote.
* China is in a diplomatic scramble to limit blowback while standing by a partner with which it has grown increasingly close in opposition to the West.
* President Joe Biden instructed the U.S. State Department to release up to an additional $350 million worth of weapons from U.S. stocks to Ukraine on Friday as it struggles to repulse a Russian invasion.
QUOTES
– “We will fight as long as it takes to liberate the country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video message posted on his social media.
– “We are urgently working on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
– “I came to Berlin to shake the conscience of Germany so that they would finally decide on truly harsh sanctions that will influence the Kremlin’s decisions,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters ahead of a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
– “In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet President Zelenskiy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future,” Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate said on Twitter. “Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”
(Editing by William Mallard, Mark Potter and Christina Fincher)
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
The rumors that the Russians are striking bio weapons labs is gaining credence. Here is a link to the State Department's list of research labs in Ukraine, which has now been deleted, but are archived:
The Russian military special operation in Ukraine coincided with the planned launch of U.S. military biolaboratories in Kiev and Odessa. On February 26, the US Embassy in Ukraine rushed to delete all documents about 11 Pentagon-funded bio-laboratories in Ukraine from its website. All these documents (now deleted by the Embassy), you can read HERE.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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#177553 02/27/202212:48 AM02/27/202212:48 AM
Next complete trade embargo of everything into or out of Russia, and give the world 1 week to do the same or we embargo that nation for economically enabling Russia. I don’t care if it is Great Britain, Germany, Canada or Japan. Buy or sell anything with Russia and you are done doing any business with America.
Kick every Russian out of America unless they are dual citizens with US citizenship.
Get US oil and gas industry back up and running full throttle ASAP.
Not going to happen, but this is how you do it.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
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#177554 02/27/202201:54 AM02/27/202201:54 AM
There are NO clean hands in this conflict. In fact it is as much our fault as Putin's. The Neo-con globalists have instigated this conflict for 30 years. Now, Putin has had enough of their meddling. Factor in China. They may very well back Russia to take us down. If they retake Taiwan in a month or so, we will have a 2 front war. And, the current administration is too inept to wipe their own ass...let alone that of 2 super powers who've had enough of us.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Russia's central bank has issued an appeal for calm amid fears that new financial sanctions could spark a run on its banks.
It said it "has the necessary resources and tools to maintain financial stability and ensure the operational continuity of the financial sector".
The EU, the US, the UK and Canada have announced that the assets of Russia's central bank will be frozen.
Some Russian banks will also be excluded from the Swift payment system.
A run on Russian banks would see too many people trying to withdraw money. On Friday, Russia's central bank was forced to increase the amount of money it supplies to ATMs after demand for cash reached the highest level since March 2020.
Russia's central bank has reserves of around $630bn (£470bn).
The aim of sanctions against the Bank of Russia would stop it from selling assets overseas to support its own banks and companies.
Announcing the measures, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said: "The European Union and its partners are working to cripple Putin's ability to finance his war machine." ...
The west is going to keep poking the bear until it eats them alive. Belarus' Lukashenko Says West Is Pushing Russia Into "Third World War"
by Tyler Durden Sunday, Feb 27, 2022
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko responded to the drastically ratcheting sanctions being slapped on Moscow as the West is increasingly unified behind the move to block Russia's SWIFT access and taking measures against its central bank. He warned Sunday that NATO countries are pushing Russia into a "third world war".
The alarming words came just as Putin placed his nuclear force posture on "high alert" Sunday over what he called “aggressive statements” by NATO top officials. A statement from the United Nations then called the possibility of nuclear conflict "inconceivable". Via BELTA/Reuters
Lukashenko said in his latest Sunday comments as quoted and translated in regional media: "Now there is a lot of talk against the banking sector. Gas, oil, SWIFT. It's worse than war. This is pushing Russia into a third world war."
He specified that if the West didn't start backing off from these extreme measures, the ending could lead to nuclear conflict. He called for "restraint" in this regard, even though in the past two months of tensions leading up to the war in Ukraine he issued an invitation for Putin to host Russian nukes on Belarusian soil.
"We need to be restrained here so as not to get into trouble. Because nuclear war is the end of everything."
"We have experience. We discussed this theme with Putin more than once. We’ll survive. It is impossible to starve us to death," Lukashenko said.
He vowed that both Belarus and Russia were readying retaliatory measures that he described as being "very tangible" but said Minsk and Moscow would be thinking them over "very carefully".
But he warned that should the West or NATO countries ever move nuclear weapons into bordering states with Russia, that Moscow will respond in kind - especially by moving nukes into Belarus. Currently, Ukraine and Russia are expected to begin initial talks "without preconditions" near the Belarusian border.
Last edited by ConSigCor; 02/27/202209:16 PM.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
I can't find a link to it on the internet yet, but I'm hearing the French Foreign Legion is allowing their Ukrainian members ( of which there are apparently quite a few) to take "home leave." These are well-trained soldiers who will make a solid contribution to the Ukrainian forces. And yes, France is a member of NATO.
I looked and found a few “reddit” type stories but couldn’t get them to open.
After further digging… all of the other related stories are wildly anti-Ukrainian/pro-Russia, so it is possible that this could be a fake story designed to fire up anti-NATO sentiment among Russophiles reading the stories.
Also lots of stories of veterans from all over the world rushing to get to Ukraine to join the “international legion” as they are calling it. Lots of nations are advising caution, and advising against it, but are in no way stopping them from going or putting up any obstacles.link to story
Last edited by Huskerpatriot; 02/27/202211:58 PM.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
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#177571 02/28/202212:02 AM02/28/202212:02 AM
This story apparently got its start on various social media platforms. I'm starting to think it's BS, it would be out of character for the French Foreign Legion to do something like this.
Onward and upward, airforce
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#177572 02/28/202212:16 AM02/28/202212:16 AM
The FFL sort of has the reputation of members totally disavowing themselves fully of their past… it/they/their Prior life completely are you be forgotten as though they didn’t exist. You are a nothing and they own you till your term is up. For them to say “you can go back home” would fly against their entire ethos.
The story also said they were allowing them to go with their complete battle gear. Though I didn’t serve, I’ve heard enough stories from those that did (my father included) about how obsessive and possessive the military is about “their gear” and needing boatloads of documentation of every little item, who had it, what they did with it and accounting for its condition when it was returned. The idea of soldiers taking their gear (gun included) off base and crossing 3-4 international borders as civilians just sounded fanciful.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
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#177573 02/28/202201:33 AM02/28/202201:33 AM
Are peace talks beginning? Maybe, i suppose. Not sure how much good they'll do. But it's pretty clear the war isn't going as Vlad planned, and the Ukrainians are definitely winning the propaganda battle. And rather than weakening NATO, he has in fact strengthened it.
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Peace talks begin? Russian and Ukrainian leaders are meeting today in Belarus. Ukraine is seeking "an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of troops"; Russia's aims are unclear. Just yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that was putting nuclear forces on "special combat readiness" status (while Belarus—which "has become a launch pad for Russian troops invading Ukraine"—said it's ditching its non-nuclear status).
U.S. President Joe Biden has, thankfully, chosen to deescalate rather than put U.S. forces "on Defcon 3—known to moviegoers as that moment when the Air Force rolls out bombers, and nuclear silos and submarines are put on high alert," in the words of The New York Times.
And U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield stressed to the Security Council that Russia was "under no threat from NATO." She called Putin's actions "another escalatory and unnecessary step that threatens us all. We urge Russia to tone down its dangerous rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons."
Events in Ukraine—and the larger European community—don't seem to be going quite as Putin planned. Ukrainian resistance to Russian forces has been fierce.
"I think Putin got a lot more than he bargained for. He's in a very difficult position," former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster told Face the Nation yesterday. "The Ukrainian people are fighting for their freedom. They're fighting for democracy. They're fighting for one another and their sovereignty, and that just doesn't go away if he's able to seize Kyiv."
The responses from Europe can't be heartening for the Russian leader either. His actions in Ukraine were at least partly driven by his fears of NATO and the European Union (E.U.), institutions that he has attempted to undermine for years. But his invasion has bolstered them instead.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said of Ukraine on Sunday: "They are one of us and we want them in." Her comments came as the E.U. "decided for the first time in its history to supply weapons to a country at war," notes Reuters. "Less than four days after it started, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered a Western political, strategic, economic and corporate response unprecedented in its extent and coordination."
Putin's invasion is "producing the exact opposite effect that he intended," said Biden in an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen. "Not only is NATO more unified—look at what's going on in terms of Finland, look what's going on in terms of Sweden, look what's going on in terms of other countries."
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said last week that while "Finland is not currently facing an immediate military threat," it was "now clear that the debate on NATO membership in Finland will change."
"It's obvious that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, which is first of all a military organization, it will entail serious military-political consequences, which would require retaliatory steps by the Russian Federation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last Friday.
"I want to be extremely clear. It is Sweden that itself and independently decides on our security policy line," Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson responded.
Meanwhile, Kosovo "has asked the United States to establish a permanent military base in the country and speed up its integration into NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine," reports Reuters. Kosovo Defence Minister Armend Mehaj declared Sunday that "accelerating Kosovo's membership in NATO and having a permanent base of American forces is an immediate need to guarantee peace, security and stability in the Western Balkans."
With little going Putin's way, it is unsurprising that he has done what bullies do: threatened to escalate. The question is whether Putin's threats are strategic bluffs or something more sinister.
"It was the second time in a week that Mr. Putin has reminded the world, and Washington, that he has a massive arsenal and might be tempted to use it," notes the Times:
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But what made the latest nuclear outburst notable was that it was staged for television, as Mr. Putin told his generals that he was acting because of the West's "aggressive comments" about Ukraine…."It was bizarre," said Graham T. Allison of Harvard University, whose study of the Kennedy administration's handling of the Cuban missile crisis, "Essence of Decision," has been read by generations of international relations students—and many of the national security staff surrounding Mr. Biden today. Mr. Putin's citation of "aggressive comments" as a justification for putting one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals on alert status seemed both disproportionate and puzzling, he said. "It makes no sense."
On Saturday, Russia's communications regulator ordered the removal of reports from Russian media that describe Moscow's attack on Ukraine as an "assault, invasion or declaration of war," or face being fined or blocked. The regulator has in recent days also ordered blockage of Meta Platforms Inc. social-media service Facebook in the country, and Twitter Inc. has reported that it is being restricted there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has a smaller military, has moved to outflank Mr. Putin online. Ukraine ordered its phone carriers to shut down network access to phones from Russia and Belarus—making it so invading forces can't get online and post their own videos or send their own messages.
As this war heats up you will see many cheering for one flag or the other; promoting escalations and retaliations. This is a trap. Who exactly benefits from a major war that sends millions of young, fighting age men and women to slaughter each other in Eurasia (at the precise moment when civil disobedience with teeth was beginning to spread)? And what do you suppose is about to happen to the monetary system now that Russia is being cut from SWIFT? Did you consider the fact that not only does Europe depend heavily on Russian gas (that the U.S. cannot even come close to replacing), but Russia and Ukraine also happen to be the world's two largest wheat exporters comprising approximately 30% of global production? All of Ukraine's exports have been halted, and with Russia cut off from the western banking system all future customers will have to work outside the dollar. Even if the physical war were to be contained to Ukraine (spoiler alert: it won't), the consequences of the cyber and economic warfare already underway will be devastating. Western leaders are setting their populations up for much more than just parabolic price increases. Widespread shortages and famine are on the horizon. This will not be a short term phenomenon.
Most of you understand by now that the WEF was the vehicle used to plan and coordinate the pandemic response (Event 201), but were you aware that there were two other exercises? Study the "Cyber Polygon" and "Food Chain Reaction" exercises. Did you know that Russia played a prominent role in Cyber Polygon? Did you notice that the Russian government sent a representative to speak about Russia's central bank digital currency project? And did you know that Putin (like Trudeau, Macron, Andern and so many others) participated in Schwab's Young Global leader program? Putin has admitted publicly that he has spent a great deal of time in Davos with Schwab and associates, and has signed Russia on to a 4th Industrial Revolution project of its own. Putin is in on the plan. He plays an essential role in The Great Reset by kicking off World War 3 proper.
In this context the WEF is a lot like the WWF (World Wrestling Federation): only in this version instead of breaking chairs over each other's heads they send your young people to kill and be killed. And as the war spreads in ways that "no one could have predicted" and cyber attacks start taking out communications and critical infrastructure they get to blame a foreign enemy for all the chaos and destruction that comes next. Don't fall for it.
Have you forgotten that the politicians directing each of these armies are the same criminally corrupt, genocidal control freaks that ruined your lives for the past two years, and who still intend to mandate yearly booster shots (and all manner of horrors) as soon as they get a chance? Oh, you thought that was over? Think again. In the U.S. a federal vaccine passport system is moving forward with bipartisan support, and the WHO has the global version ready as well. Round two of the pandemic is baked in the cake. And if you thought round one was bad, wait till you see what government's are capable of in a lights out scenario.
We must use these last moments of the free internet carefully. This is our last chance to influence how people respond to these events (police and military in particular). This is the last chance to make them understand that the enemy isn't overseas, and that serving justice will mean arresting those issuing the orders.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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#177610 03/02/202211:49 AM03/02/202211:49 AM
Multiple reports are that the shelling has started a major fire. There are no conclusive reports of where the fire is located on the grounds of the facility or if the safety of the reactor is at all threatened. 25% of the nations power comes from here, and is 10x the size of Chernobyl!
Just when you think this disaster can’t get any stranger.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
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#177637 03/04/202212:24 AM03/04/202212:24 AM
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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#177641 03/04/202211:21 AM03/04/202211:21 AM
The Ukrainian People Are Being Sacrificed Like Pawns On A Chessboard By The Global Elite March 3, 2022 by Michael Snyder
44 million people live in Ukraine, and they are deeply suffering in a war that most of them did not want. Like most of us, the vast majority of Ukrainians just want to live their lives in peace and quiet, but that isn’t going to be possible now. So we should pray for the people of Ukraine, because they are going through a type of hell that is beyond what most of us even have the ability to imagine. And we should be very angry with all of those that caused this war, because it didn’t have to happen.
I want to be very clear about the fact that I do not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Russians could have achieved their goals without a full-blown invasion, but now they have started World War III.
I also want to be very clear about the fact that I place a great deal of the blame for this conflict on the global elite. The Biden administration and other western powers encouraged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to endlessly provoke the Russians and they made all sorts of promises to him. So Zelensky pushed all of his chips into the middle of the table even though the Russians knew that the U.S. and Europe would not fight if they invaded.
Now Russia has called the bluff, and the U.S. and Europe have stayed on the sidelines.
They certainly don’t want to fight the Russians, but they have no problem encouraging the Ukrainians to sacrifice countless lives fighting a battle that they can’t possibly win.
Asking the Ukrainians to fight Russia is like asking a skinny 10-year-old boy to fight a 25-year-old heavyweight boxing champion.
It isn’t a fair fight.
Many Ukrainians have fought bravely for their country, and this has given the Russian military more problems than they originally anticipated.
But as Clint Ehrlich has pointed out, Russia’s early struggles actually make the possibility of any sort of a negotiated conclusion to this conflict must less likely…
But the humiliating struggles they’ve experienced, which have been broadcast around the world, change the political calculus.
Russia no longer has the option of looking like a magnanimous victor by accepting a negotiated ceasefire.
If President Putin accepts something like a conditional surrender that preserves the integrity of the Ukrainian government, that will be spun as a defeat for Russia.
It may sound paradoxical from the outside, but Russia’s *tactical defeats* now make *strategic victory* imperative.
To preserve Russia’s aspiration to be a superpower, there must be no doubt at the end of the war who the victor was.
It must be Russia. By a crushing margin.
Even if it takes longer than originally anticipated, Russia will undoubtedly win this war.
And more Ukrainians will needlessly die with each passing day.
Of course it was the U.S. and other western powers that set the stage for all of this.
In 2014, the Obama administration and other western powers were behind the color revolution which violently overthrew the democratically elected government in Ukraine.
That resulted in an extremely violent civil war between the new U.S.-backed government and the separatists which were backed by Russia.
Things were relatively stable during the Trump administration, but then the Biden administration started filling Zelensky’s head with all sorts of ideas about joining NATO and taking Donetsk and Luhansk by force.
And Zelensky bought into what Biden administration officials were telling him hook, line and sinker.
The Russians tried to negotiate, but Zelensky and the Biden administration steadfastly refused to compromise.
So the Russians felt like they were out of options, and now the Biden administration does not want to fight a war that they helped to cause.
And even though his country is now being destroyed, Zelensky is continuing to talk tough…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued an address to the Russian people on Thursday, according to state media, in which he announced that Russia would pay “reparations” and rebuild “everything” the ongoing war has destroyed in Ukraine.
Oh really?
Precisely how does Zelensky plan to achieve that?
The Ukrainian government is also encouraging their citizens to make Molotov cocktails and to set up barriers to block the progress of Russians tanks…
The tone of Zelensky’s speech on Thursday, as reported by the government news site Ukrinform, was significantly less conciliatory than his address to the Russian people last week shortly after Putin began a full-scale assault of Ukraine, in which he emphasized friendly relations between Ukrainian and Russian people and urged Russians to pressure Putin to stop the war. The shift in tone aligns with that of statements from Ukrainian outlets on Wednesday declaring that Russian soldiers would be “slaughtered like pigs” if they attempted to surrender. Ukrainian government social media outlets are actively encouraging civilians to make Molotov cocktails, build roadblocks, and otherwise participate in the war.
Instead of telling women and children to fight the war that they helped to cause, I would like to see Zelensky and his associates get out of the bunker and do some fighting themselves.
And I would also like to see Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and other members of the Biden administration fly over to Ukraine and join the battle.
Of course the same thing applies to Vladimir Putin. Instead of hiding in a bunker in the mountains, I would like to see him on the front lines.
Needless to say, none of these global leaders are actually going to participate in the fight. They are way too important for that.
Instead, we are going to continue to see women and children face off against Russian tanks, and that is a disgrace.
Wouldn’t it be great if the international rules of war were changed to say that those that start a war must fight in it?
But instead of fighting for Ukraine, the global elite are attempting to put lots of pressure on Russia in other ways. For example, all Russian-owned and bred cats have now been banned from international competitions…
An international cat federation has banned all Russian-owned and bred cats from competing in international competitions, in a move that’s sure to stop Putin’s attack on Ukraine.
No, this isn’t a Babylon Bee story.
The Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe) issued a statement saying it “cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing.”
Yes, I am sure that the citizens of Kiev, Kharkiv and Mariupol will be greatly encouraged when they hear that.
And as Ukrainian cities are pummeled by relentless shelling, the U.S. Army has decided that now is a great time to be “putting its soldiers through training on gender pronouns”…
While Russia wages a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Army is putting its soldiers through training on gender pronouns and coaching officers on when to offer soldiers gender transition surgery, according to an official military presentation on the subject obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The mandatory presentation, “Policy on the Military Service of Transgender Persons and Persons with Gender Dysphoria,” was given to officers earlier this month along with instructions for them to train their subordinates on the material. Portions of the presentation were provided to the Free Beacon by a whistleblower who was ordered to undergo the training as a high-ranking officer in the Army Special Forces.
As we sit in comfort here in the western world, major Ukrainian cities are being ruthlessly encircled by Russian forces.
Millions of Ukrainians will soon be very cold and very hungry as they are relentlessly shelled by the mighty Russian military machine.
But most Ukrainians never wanted any of this. If anyone deserves such a fate, it is the global elite that actually caused this war in the first place.
For years, I have been relentlessly warning that we were heading toward a conflict between the U.S. and Russia, but most Americans weren’t interested in such warnings.
Now World War III is here, and the global elite think that they are going to be able to watch it from a safe distance.
But this won’t just be limited to Ukraine.
War is going to spread, and it will eventually deeply affect all of us.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Russian troops have occupied Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, with managers working at "gunpoint" after a fire caused by their attack was extinguished, according to Ukrainian nuclear officials.
Countries around the world swiftly condemned the episode, with the US embassy in Ukraine warning an attack on a nuclear plant was a "war crime" and the United Nations Security Council convening an emergency meeting, according to diplomats.
In a statement Friday morning local time, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate (SNRI) confirmed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine was occupied by Russian military forces, but said officials remained in contact with plant management.
The power plant's six reactors remained intact, though the compartment auxiliary buildings for reactor unit 1 had been damaged, the SNRI said in its statement. Four of the remaining units were being cooled down while one unit is providing power, the statement said.
Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine's nuclear power operator Energoatom, later reported that management were operating at "gunpoint." He said on Telegram that Russian forces "entered the territory of the nuclear power plant, took control of the personnel and management of the nuclear power plant."
"Today there is no connection, the station management works at invaders' gunpoint," Kotin continued. As for the staff, they were admitted in the morning to perform their duties. We do not currently have a direct connection to the station. We get information from the sources at the station."
Kotin warned that although the reactors are safe, further attacks could lead to "disaster."
Ukraine's State Emergency Services (SES) had earlier confirmed several dozen firefighters had extinguished a blaze that had started in a training building outside the main reactor complex, following shelling from Russian military forces....
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Developing Eastern European Crises
[Re: Navarro]
#177653 03/06/202212:41 AM03/06/202212:41 AM
More than a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Air Force has yet to commence large-scale operations. Inactivity in the first few days could be ascribed to various factors, but the continued absence of major air operations now raises serious capability questions.
One of the greatest surprises from the initial phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been the inability of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) fighter and fighter-bomber fleets to establish air superiority, or to deploy significant combat power in support of the under-performing Russian ground forces. On the first day of the invasion, an anticipated series of large-scale Russian air operations in the aftermath of initial cruise- and ballistic-missile strikes did not materialise. An initial analysis of the possible reasons for this identified potential Russian difficulties with deconfliction between ground-based surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries, a lack of precision-guided munitions and limited numbers of pilots with the requisite expertise to conduct precise strikes in support of initial ground operations due to low average VKS flying hours. These factors all remain relevant, but are no longer sufficient in themselves to explain the anaemic VKS activity as the ground invasion continues into its second week. Russian fast jets have conducted only limited sorties in Ukrainian airspace, in singles or pairs, always at low altitudes and mostly at night to minimise losses from Ukrainian man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) and ground fire.
In recent years, analysts, including the author, have tended to focus on the impressive combat-air equipment modernisation conducted by Russia since 2010. Most notably, this has seen the VKS acquire around 350 modern aircraft in a decade, including the Sukhoi Su-35S air-superiority fighters, Su-30SM multi-role fighters and Su-34 bombers. There has also been an ambitious modernisation drive to remanufacture and upgrade around 110 Mikoyan Mig-31BM/BSM interceptors and a smaller number of Su-25SM(3) ground-attack aircraft. Russia has around 300 modern combat aircraft normally stationed in the Western and Southern Military Districts – within range of Ukraine – and had also relocated regiments from elsewhere in Russia as part of its military build-up prior to the invasion. There was clearly an intent to at least signal their use, especially in light of the Russian military intervention in Syria since 2015 which has been characterised by heavy use of VKS fixed-wing assets for combat-air patrols and strike missions. As the Russian ground offensive struggles to make headway in the north and eastern parts of Ukraine, and heavy vehicle and personnel losses continue to be inflicted by Ukrainian forces, the lack of Russian air activity requires a serious explanation....
The Russians greatest enemy? Their own incompetence. Their logistics is hosed, and they don't have the ability to adapt to changing conditions, preferring to stick to a failed plan.[/url] Too long to post here in its entirety, but it's well worth a read. Here's a portion:
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...The Ukrainians destroyed or still have possession of (in their cities) all the Russian/Ukrainian railheads, save for Kherson and Berdyansk, since the first day of the war. So Russian rail logistics are not possible into Ukraine without either/both a major battlefield success and a major rail engineering effort the Russians did not think was necessary.
The Ukrainians have been slamming every fuel truck they can find with every method available to them, which is big trouble for the Russians as they didn’t have many of those to begin with, and brought only the ammunition & food for a three-day operation.
The Russians have ditched their original 3-day “special operation” plan and have definitely shifted to “set-piece” battles requiring significant preparation, as those are better suited to their poorly trained troops.
The weak link is in doing that is the Russians plain lack the force density in the Ukraine to defend their rear areas, and in particular the bridges over the Ukraine’s many rivers and streams.
The Russian inability to suppress Ukrainian’s integrated air defense system stems in part due to the pathetically poor planning of missile launches which have mostly expended their pre-war inventory of Iskander & Kaliber Ground/Sea/Air launched cruise missiles plus the 500km ranged Iskander ballistic missiles for limited results.
It is also due to the (unknowable before combat) collapse of Russian emitter locating systems for hunting SAMs, intensely used by the Soviets, and Support Jamming capability, also heavily used by the Soviets.
And finally, the tenth day of combat has been showing the vast under-performance of radar threat warning receivers, defensive jammers and infrared missile warning systems on the latest Russian jets. All these deficiencies were visible before this campaign (since 2015) but their severity was difficult to assess before combat operations started over Ukraine.
Planning for RuAF suppression of air Ukrainian defense was keyed to human agents with cell phones and visual/radio beacons to locate UAF mobile SAM batteries pre-war for attack. A few batteries were hit but most seem to have survived. Ukrainian ground forces know of this trick now and it will not be repeated.
The slowness with which the Russian Air Force (RuAF) are showing in deconflicting their aircraft and their mobile integrated air defense system, after losing by capture several intact (with their codes and IFF) Pantsir-S1 and Tor short range missile complexes means the Russians lack air reconnaissance coverage of their rear areas in the Ukraine west of the Dnieper.
This means the Ukrainians can slip company-sized mobile raiding forces into the Russians’ rear areas and take out the bridges required to supply the Russian set-piece attacks being prepared. And they are doing so.
This doesn’t stop Russian set-piece attacks, but it increases their preparation time and, in particular, upsets their timing so the set-piece attacks cannot be coordinated for mutual support. Each will be a one-off.
I.e., the Russian advance has been slowed down in a major way. This buys the Ukrainians time to do other things to defeat the Russians. The most important thing the Ukrainians need is time. They have to take it from the Russians with ground operations & airstrikes....
Every war plan is going to fall apart when the first shot is fired. The key is to have the ability to adapt and overcome. Ukraine has that ability. The Russians don't.
I’m seeing reports of f similar challenges for the invading the Russian forces.
Add to this, many of their their trucks and wheeled APCs seem to be using very old and I maintained tires which when diving heavily loaded up n debris and rubble covered roads are prone to rupture then the stranded crews prone to ambush by defending forces and/or civilians.
Many of the rations of those 3 day supplies were long since expired (2014 from a video I saw) and were I edible.
To maximize the traffic a road can handle, they had 3 lanes southbound on a 2 lane road. When the lead vehicle breaks down, the ENTIRE go e to s stopped. Like in a traffic jam, those vehicles soon run out of fuel. With the road entirely blocked repair vehicles and fuel tankers are unable to get to the front… they have to take back/side roads where local forces (army and/or civilian) are waiting in ambush. To add to the invaders woes, they are having an unexpected warm spell turning the otherwise frozen fields into a quagmire of mud for heavy vehicles.
Quite simply, the Russians have totally botched the logistics of this.
"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one." Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)
The allies had a similar problem during Operation Market-Garden in WWII. The two-lane highway we used was grossly inadequate, and every time a truck broke down, the column had to stop until the road was cleared.
Add to this the ground is thawing and turning muddy, making off-road travel difficult or impossible. I remember a REFORGER exercise in southern German in the late 70's, during a "heat wave." The strong foehn winds thawed out the ground and a company of tanks trying to cross a field sank to their turrets in the mud. It wasn't until April before they could finally dig those tanks out of that field.
I keep hearing the Russians are using cheap Chinese tires, which are failing under the wet and muddy conditions. I don't know how true that is, it's likely a lot of things that brought that 40-mile convoy to a halt. If I were an A-10 pilot, I'd be drooling over photos of that convoy.
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