Month: February 2022

Ukraine And The Media

Here in the West the reporting of the Ukraine/Russia conflict is extensive….but so far it is tired images of smoke plumes, jets fly by, an explosion that has been played ad nauseum, a few Russian tanks in transit ….plus the regurgitation of the officials from all countries…but the actual fighting has been lacking.

I mean the media could get into a war zone in Syria with heavy fighting but yet they have nothing to report on the actual fighting other than some hearsay…..I will admit that CNN had a report that recorded some gunfire that was labeled as ‘intense’….as an ex combat troop it did not seem so ‘intense’ to me….but then I am not selling a war either.

I am glad that the people have found relatively safe places like the endless subway story and the comparison to London during the Blitz and that scene has run every 15 minutes for over 12 hours.

Since 2014 the US has given Ukraine over a billion dollars in aid and I would like to see if it was money well spent……I would like to see those troops in action….but so far all we have seen is a few Russian paratroopers at an airfield outside the capital of Kyiv.

I guess may question is why is the media not doing a better job of covering the conflict and reporting on the readiness or not of the Ukrainian military.

Some may feel that I am an unfeeling bastard…well that is your right….but I am concerned that our cash went into some bank account or to a the building of a new villa on the Ukrainian coast on the Black Sea.

Where was our cash spent?

Our $650 million just this year was apparently not spent where it was intended…..for the Ukrainian leader Zelensky is stating that “We are in this fight alone” and “The West should be doing more to protect Ukraine”….

To me that sounds like he wants others to do his fighting for him….after all his boasting that Ukrainians will fight to the finish…..and after 48 hours he is screaming for help…

Maybe this situation should give the US Congress something to consider before they help authorizing the wasting of the American taxpayers money.

I by no means support the invasion of Russia into the Ukrainian country side….this was a despicable act of aggression that should be punished.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Biden Speaks

The ‘leaders’ of the ‘Free World” all walked to the cameras and spoke to the unwashed masses about the situation in Ukraine….

Biden Spoke…..

President Biden imposed more sanctions on Russia Thursday, including on major banks and individuals with ties to the Kremlin, reports the Hill. Vladimir Putin “chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences,” said Biden at an afternoon news conference about the Ukraine invasion, per the New York Times. Some other key lines and points, from outlets including the Washington Post, the AP, and Axios.

  • The aim: Putin “has much larger ambitions than Ukraine,” said Biden. “He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union. That what this is about.”
  • US troops: Biden said he was authorizing more US troops to deploy to Europe but reiterated a key point: “Let me say it again: Our forces are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east. As I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power.”
  • Sanctions’ pain: The new sanctions “are going to impose severe costs on the Russian economy both immediately and over time,” said the president. “We have purposely designed these sanctions to maximize a long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and our allies.” In response to a question, he said the impact on Americans would be short-lived “as long as we continue to stay resolved.” He also pledged the sanctions would not disrupt the oil markets, though oil prices were surging.
  • From the AP: “Biden, for now, held off imposing some of the most severe sanctions, including cutting Russia out of the SWIFT payment system, which allows for the transfers of money from bank to bank around the globe, or Russia’s energy sector.”
  • No bullies: “This aggression cannot go unanswered and if it did the consequences for America would be much worse,” said Biden. “America stands up to bullies. We stand up to freedom.”
  • China: Is he urging China to rein in Putin? Biden said he was “not prepared to comment” on that for now.

My question is if the US saw this coming months ago then why was Ukraine caught flat footed after all the aid sent their way just 650 million just recently?  90 tons of military aid was sent just this year and yet that made little difference.

Just wondering.

I see Biden and the Boyz are watching the polls…..most Americans do not want a major role for the US in this conflict….

Just 26% say the U.S. should have a major role in the conflict, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Fifty-two percent say a minor role; 20% say none at all.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think the U.S. should have a major role in the conflict, 32% to 22%. Overall, the poll shows 43% of Americans now approve of Biden’s handling of the U.S. relationship with Russia, a downtick from 49% in June of last year.

These stats show very well what I have been saying for years….that the Dems are just as pro-war as the GOP…..money well spent by the M-IC.

I listened earlier to Boris Johnson’s speech…..basically the same speech…..so everyone is on the same page here.

Sanctions?

If these new sanctions will be effective then why not impose them earlier and avoid the loss of life?

I think Putin will giggle at these attempts…..if they do not work….what then?

Finally the ex-prez made a statement on the Ukraine situation…..

“[Putin] was going to be satisfied with the peace and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration. And as an American, I’m angry about it and I’m saddened by it, and it all happened because of a rigged election. This would have never happened, and that includes inflation, and that includes millions of people pouring in on a monthly basis. Far more than 3 million people, and they’re coming from 129 different countries. We have no idea what’s happening, and they’re destroying our country.”

Of course that statement was made on the Trump cheer leading media outlet….which seems to be saying that the destruction of a nation is okay with them.

A word to the wise…..since Russia and China have signed a few agreements it would behoove the US to keep an eye on the actions of China in the next few days or weeks.

I am sure there is much more to be said by all players…..

I will be watching and listening so you do not have to…..

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“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–24Feb22

Other international and foreign policy situations have fallen away with the issues in Ukraine…..but the rest of the world still functions even if the MSM is ignoring it….

I recently read a headline that made me shutter….New Indo-Pacific Strategy Calls for Greater US Presence in Southeast Asia….where have I heard that piece of manure before?

WAIT! I know it was the 60s!

Our dear president has released his big plan to counter the rise of China in the South China Sea……

The Biden administration released its Indo-Pacific strategy on Friday that calls for the US to increase its presence in Southeast Asia as part of the effort to counter China in the region.

The strategy emphasizes boosting alliances and partnerships in the region. It says the US will open new embassies and consulates in Southeast Asia and in the Pacific islands, increase the US Coast Guard’s presence in the region, and refocus military assistance to the Indo-Pacific.

The strategy says that through the new AUKUS military pact, the US will “will identify the optimal pathway to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy at the earliest achievable date.”

The US plans to strengthen cooperation with the Quad, the informal alliance that consists of the US, India, Japan, and Australia. In recent years, the US has strengthened military ties with India, and the strategy calls for the US to support India’s “continued rise.”

The strategy was released as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is touring the region. On Friday, Blinken met with other Quad officials in Australia, and he is due to meet with officials in Fiji Saturday.

During his trip, Blinken is reassuring regional allies that the Asia “pivot” is still on even though the US is bolstering forces in Europe amid heightened tensions with Ukraine. While much of the recent focus has been on Russia, the US has significantly increased its military presence in the South China Sea and other near China since President Biden came into office.

(antiwar.com)

Does anyone remember Vietnam?  Well I do!

We sent troops to counter the spread of communism….and does anyone remember how that turned out?

Well I Do!

US ends one useless costly war to prepare for the next….the next useless costly war…..

Same crap–different year!

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“lego ergo scribo”

Where’s The Outrage?

Let’s step back from Ukraine for awhile and take up another issue that has lost in the media……

Remember when it was revealed that the NSA was collected mega data on US citizens?

There was endless rants and posts about the affront to our rights to privacy…..and yet the newest report of a massive data collection of US citizens is gone by with few writing of the outrage…..

The Central Intelligence Agency has been collecting American’s private data without any oversight or even the minimal legal safeguards that apply to the NSA and FBI, an unconstitutional affront to our civil liberties.

According to a declassified report released yesterday by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), the CIA’s surveillance program is reminiscent of the mass surveillance programs conducted by the NSA, though the details released thus far paint a disturbing picture of potential wide-scale violations of people’s privacy. To start, the CIA program has apparently been conducted outside the statutory reforms and oversight of the intelligence community instituted after revelations by Edward Snowden in 2013. The newly declassified CIA data collection program is carried out in conjunction with Executive Order 12333 and is therefore subject to even less oversight than the woefully under-supervised NSA surveillance programs subject to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The whos, whats, whys, and hows of this semi-disclosed CIA program are still unknown, and the public deserves the right to know exactly what damage has been done. Senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich are already pressing for the release of even more information. In a partially-redacted letter sent to the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA Director on April 13, 2021, the senators have called for the public release of the full report about the CIA’s surveillance, which remains classified. The senators’ letter also demands answers about how the agency collects the data, what data is being collected, and the rules governing its storage and retention.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/we-need-answers-about-cias-mass-surveillance

Once again the American people show a disturbing indifference to the world around them….as long as their little pathetic sphere is blue skies and unicorns then they could care damn less at the loss of rights.

Collectively the American people could be filed away in the ‘Can’t Fix Stupid’ collection.

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“lego ergo scribo”

And So It Begins

After weeks of predicted an attack by Russian forces in Ukraine……the ‘invasion’ has begun……

Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions, warning other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of an Russian invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government, the AP reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure and explosions are heard across the country. Zelenskyy said he had just talked to President Joe Biden and the US was rallying international support for Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic. More:

  • Biden pledged new sanctions meant to punish Russia for an act of aggression that the international community had for weeks anticipated but could not prevent through diplomacy. With rare but fragile alignment, the US Congress is largely backing him; the AP has more on that here.
  • Putin justified it all in a televised address, asserting the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine—a false claim the US had predicted he would make as a pretext for an invasion. He accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees, and credulously claimed that Russia doesn’t intend to occupy Ukraine but will move to “demilitarize” it and bring those who committed crimes to justice.
  • Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the action as a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine” and a “war of aggression,” adding, “Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”
  • The Russian military said it has struck Ukrainian air bases and other military assets and hasn’t targeted populated areas. The Russian Defense Ministry statement said the military is using precision weapons to target Ukrainian air bases, air defense assets and other military infrastructure. It claimed that “there is no threat to civilian population.”
  • An emergency UN Security Council meeting was meant as an eleventh hour effort to dissuade Russia from sending troops into Ukraine. But the message became moot when the explosions began even as it was being delivered. “It’s too late, my dear colleagues, to speak about de-escalation,” Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the council. “I call on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war.” The AP has more on the meeting here. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Russia’s attack on Ukraine was “the saddest moment” of his five-year tenure, the AP reports.
  • Biden plans to speak to Americans on Thursday after a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders. More sanctions against Russia were expected to be announced Thursday. In a written statement, he said “the world will hold Russia accountable,” CNN reports.
  • The massive cyberattack targeting Ukraine continued Thursday; more of the latest on that at the AP.
  • Russian troops and military vehicles are entering Ukraine from multiple borders including Russia, Crimea, and Belarus, CNN reports. It’s not clear whether any Belarusian troops are involved, but Ukraine says Belarus is supporting the operation.
  • Ukraine says it is “firing at the enemy.” There have been no reports of casualties so far, per the AP. Air raid sirens can be heard in multiple cities, and a general evacuation of Luhansk, one of two separatist regions backed by Russia, has been announced.
  • The Moscow Exchange has suspended trading until further notice and several airports in southern Russia have restricted operations until March 2. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is telling air operators of a high risk to civilian aircraft over Ukraine, the AP reports, reminding air operators that “this is now an active conflict zone.”
  • Ukraine claims to have shot down five Russian aircraft and a helicopter; Russia denies the claim. CNN is providing live updates here.

The warmongers have got the war they have wanted for such a long time.

We are awaiting the US/NATO response…..but while we wait the M-IC is smiling and jerking off in the closet.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–23Feb22

Just days ago the Winter Olympics ended with Norway running away with the meddle count….the US could not manage many medals……..

I use to cross country ski so those events are to my liking……

A whole new meaning to the term ‘blue balls’…..

A cross-country skier froze in a very sensitive spot following the men’s 50km mass start skiiing race at the Beijing Olympics Saturday. After finishing 28th, Remi Lindholm of Finland applied a heat pack to his genital area, the Guardian reports. “You can guess which body part was a little bit frozen when I finished,” he told reporters. “When the body parts started to warm up after the finish, the pain was unbearable.”

Organizers had been concerned about competitors because of Saturday’s freezing winds, Reuters reports. They ultimately shortened the race by 20km, making it just 30km long, but Lindholm still told reporters it was “one of the worst competitions I’ve been in.” He was on the course an hour and 16 minutes, the New York Post reports. Skiers wear only thin suits and under-layers along with plasters covering their faces and ears.

Alexander Bolshunov took gold, followed by his teammate Ivan Yakimushkin. Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krueger took bronze in his only Olympic event due to a lengthy isolation period following a positive COVID test. “Just to get to the race today is a small victory in itself and the rest is really a bonus. I think I got absolutely everything out of my body today and I didn’t have a chance to do any better,” he said. Bolshunov is now the only man to have won five cross-country medals at one Olympics; in addition to his three golds, he took home a silver and a bronze, having medaled in every event in which he competed.

Broken bones….strained muscles…..but frozen genitals is not something one would expect as a hazard for the Olympic sports.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Blacks And The Confederacy

Since it is Black History Month I thought I would look into the myth that has been passed around especially down here in the South when the debate around the American Civil War rages.

That myth is that many free blacks and slaves fought for the Confederacy.

First of all this is a myth….it began in the 20th century to try and counter the slavery issue and what it meant to those in the South.

How and where this myth came about is unclear, but it gained prominence in the late 20th century. There exists little evidence of its truth and considerable evidence of its falsehood. The Confederate government forbade the enlistment of Blacks as soldiers. It did draft Blacks, both free and enslaved, to work for the army. These men and women served as laborers, cooks, teamsters, wranglers, and other jobs with the army, usually under guard of white soldiers. Other enslaved people worked in Confederate industries in support of the war effort, including in mines, on the railroads, and in factories. Slave labor had always been a part of the Southern industry, with slave owners sending people to work for pay, which went into the pockets of the owners. Some owners allowed their enslaved people to keep some, or even all, of their earnings.

Throughout the war, debates in the Confederate congress over the issue of arming enslaved men to serve as combat troops continued. Such ideas were voted down by the Congress until March 1865, less than one month before Lee’s surrender. Even after the Confederates allowed the enlistment of Black troops the concept drew resistance. Robert Toombs, former Secretary of State for the Confederacy, and a general with Lee’s army in early 1865, called the idea of Black troops “…the worst calamity that could befall us…” In June 1865, he wrote an article in the Augusta Chronicle which included a statement that “The day that the Army of Virginia allows a negro regiment to enter their lines as soldiers they will be degraded, ruined and disgraced”. By the time his opinion appeared in the Chronicle the Army of Northern Virginia had been disbanded following its defeat.

More on this myth……

Some black Southerners aided the Confederacy. Most of these were forced to accompany their masters or were forced to toil behind the lines. Black men were not legally allowed to serve as combat soldiers in the Confederate Army–they were cooks, teamsters, and manual laborers. There were no black Confederate combat units in service during the war and no documentation whatsoever exists for any black man being paid or pensioned as a Confederate soldier, although some did receive pensions for their work as laborers. Nevertheless, the black servants and the Confederate soldiers formed bonds in the shared crucible of conflict, and many servants later attended regimental reunions with their wartime comrades.

This is not to say that no black man ever fired a gun for the Confederacy. To be specific, in the “Official Records of the War of the Rebellion,” a collection of military records from both sides which spans more than 50 volumes and more than 50,000 pages, there are a total of seven Union eyewitness reports of black Confederates. Three of these reports mention black men shooting at Union soldiers, one report mentions capturing a handful of armed black men along with some soldiers, and the other three reports mention seeing unarmed black laborers. There is no record of Union soldiers encountering an all-black line of battle or anything close to it.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/black-confederates-truth-and-legend

All in all the myth was inaccurate….basically it was an attempt to re-write history to try and illustrate some positivity of Blacks in the South.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–22Feb22

Since our society functions now on conspiracies and one of the most moronic is the one they call “QAnon”….and the brains behind this silliness has remained a mystery…..that is until now….

he QAnon movement got its start in 2017 when somebody known as “Q” began posting conspiracy-laden messages online. Now, two independent teams of linguistic sleuths say they have settled the question about Q’s identity, reports the New York Times. Both have concluded that Q is actually two people. The theory is that the original posts were written by Paul Furber, a software developer and tech journalist from South Africa. But at some point in 2018, Ron Watkins of the US took over. Watkins ran the 8chan message board—now known as 8kun—where the posts gained popularity. For the record, both deny it.

heir names have surfaced before as likely candidates, and an HBO documentary asserts that Watkins inadvertently admitted to it on camera. The new analyses—one by Swiss researchers and the other by a French team—made use of machine learning to pore over posts by Q and compare them to posts made by Furber, Watkins, and others. Both say it’s a near certainty that Q has been revealed, and two experts who reviewed the findings for the Times say they make a strong case.

Furber, for his part, explains away the similarities of his writing and Q’s by saying that Q influenced him so much that he began mimicking him. The analysts dispute that. Watkins, who is running for Congress in Arizona, says simply, “I am not Q.” But the 34-year-old also praises the Q posts and says “there is probably more good stuff than bad” in them. Read the full story, which notes that Q has been silent since December 2020

Since 06 January failed coup attempt by the idiots on the far right Q and his cronies have gone from social media…..not to worry if you are one of the idiots that drinks their Kool-Aid…..he FBI thinks QAnon will strengthen as it decentralizes.

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One Step Closer?

The news from Ukraine is not looking too damn positive…..

Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into eastern Ukraine early Tuesday local time—hours after he declared that Moscow was recognizing two breakaway territories in the country’s east as independent states. Putin ordered Russia’s defense ministry to send troops to Luhansk and Donetsk for “peacekeeping operations,” the Guardian reports. It’s not clear when Russian troops will enter the two territories, which declared themselves “people’s republics” in 2014 but were not recognized by any country until Putin’s move Monday, reports the AP.

It’s also unclear whether the Russian troops will remain in areas held by Russian-backed separatists or whether they will move into parts of the territories claimed by rebels but still under the control of the Ukrainian government, the New York Times reports. In a speech recognizing the two republics, Putin said Ukraine is a historic part of Russia that “never had a tradition of genuine statehood,” Al Jazeera reports. “Modern-day Ukraine was in full and in whole created by Russia, Bolshevik, Communist Russia,” he said.

In his speech, Putin slammed the US and NATO for trying to “blackmail” his country. “Russia has every right to take retaliatory measures to ensure its own security,” he said. “That is exactly what we will do.” After Putin announced the recognition of the two breakaway regions, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden plans to introduce new sanctions related to the territories, which will be separate from the sanctions to come in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, reports Reuters.

Then the tit for tat from the US……

The US stands with Ukraine in condemning Russia’s recognition of two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine as independent states, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday after a day of fast-moving—and alarming—developments in the crisis. The Kremlin’s “recognition of the so-called ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’ as “independent” requires a swift and firm response, and we will take appropriate steps in coordination with partners,” Blinken tweeted. He said Vladimir Putin’s move was a “complete rejection of Russia’s commitments” under the Minsk accords that were intended to end the separatist conflict, the Washington Post reports.

“States have an obligation not to recognize a new ‘state’ created through the threat or use of force, as well as an obligation not to disrupt another state’s borders,” Blinken said. “Russia’s decision is yet another example of President Putin’s flagrant disrespect for international law and norms.” Hours after he confirmed the recognition in a speech that described Ukraine as an American colony with no history as a real country, Putin signed a decree to send Russian troops to the two territories as “peacekeepers.” In a statement, the White House said President Biden had spoken to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to “reaffirm the commitment of the United States to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Biden told Zelensky that the US would “respond swiftly and decisively, in lock-step with its Allies and partners, to further Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the statement said. The White House said Biden had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss a coordinated response. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the recognition of the breakaway as a “very dark sign,” the BBC reports. Liz Truss, the UK’s foreign secretary, said Britain will coordinate with the EU to “deliver swift sanctions against Putin’s regime and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine.”

Now is the time for some calmer heads to prevail……

Tick Tock!

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“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–21Feb22

Insurrection Update

A judge has ruled in the conspiracy case on the actions of 06 January….

Former President Trump’s speech at a rally just before rioters attacked the US Capitol sounded like “a call for collective action,” a federal judge said Friday in dealing the former president a significant loss in court. The comments were included in US District Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling declining to block lawsuits accusing Trump of conspiring with extremist groups to prevent the transfer of power to President Biden on the day the electoral vote results were to be certified in Congress. Mehta said the evidence suggests Trump knew the crowd he’d invited to the White House rally on Jan. 6, 2021, included violent people when he told it to march on the Capitol, Politico reports.

This is one of those silly rulings….but the legal process must be upheld….even for the slugs from the failed coup….

I will continue to watch and post….I do not want the society at large to forget the treason these slugs committed on 06 January….

Have a lovely President’s Day

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“lego ergo scribo”