To close out my daily posts a friend put this on his blog, thanx Pete.
So very accurate.
Click on below and let me know what you think.
IMHO Not much more needs to be said.
If you like this link then please share with others.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
After the meeting with Donny Vlad had to return to Russia and face some nationalist blowback….they want Alaska returned to the motherland and may be will to take it by force if necessary…..
America’s purchase of Alaska in 1867 was a bizarre land deal between two countries. It was either hated or ridiculed across most of the world. But now, Russian nationalists want their long-lost icebox.
Yes, really. Russian nationalists are saying that Putin should come home from his Alaska visit with a very imperial present for the Russian people. They either claim the land of Alaska was leased, not sold, or that a Russian diplomat bribed American lawmakers, or that the Russian Tsar didn’t follow the law of the sale, or some other excuse.
We can’t wait to see how the Alaska population, which is now over 50 percent made up of Americans descended from Western Europe, would react to suddenly becoming Russian. Surely all those bear hunters who are accustomed to their right to bear arms would happily become constituents of the Russian bear and would welcome Russian Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear” bombers on their airfields.
It’s rarely on Americans’ minds that Russia used to have an impressive empire, mostly because Russia has been a totalitarian bogeyman or a socialist joke for nearly all of living memory here in the States.
But Russia was a tsardom (which is like a kingdom, but you have to double-check the spelling) and then an empire for 370 years. At its peak before World War I, it had a population of over 160 million. The U.S. had about half that in 1910. The Russian Empire stretched from parts of modern Poland in the west to Alaska in the east, with its territory stretching south into modern-day China. It even controlled parts of what is today Japan, though it was already in retreat there, and it lost its possessions in Korea in a war with Japan in 1905.
Sorry about it but just had to throw some history in there for good measures.
So what do you think about this report?
Personally I think it makes good copy (for some) but has no chance of success.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
First Donny and Vlad made nice in Alaska then the Z man and the big cheese from NATO came to town a few days later…..and it would appear that some down the line of talks someone convinced the Z man that territory must be relinquished.
We may now be closer to a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia—but “the road to any settlement seems long,” reports the Washington Post, noting that while European leaders seem to have convinced President Trump that granting Russia a chunk of Ukrainian territory is not immediately necessary, Moscow is uneasy with the direction of talks, especially around security guarantees for Ukraine.
- Potential meeting: Trump said he was trying to arrange a one-on-one meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the next couple of weeks, to be followed by a trilateral meeting involving Trump, per NBC News. But Russian officials said only that they had agreed to “explore the possibility” of a meeting, per the Post.
- Fast timeline: Zelensky on Tuesday suggested that some of the thorniest issues could be worked out in 10 days. “Security guarantees will probably be ‘unpacked’ by our partners, and more and more details will emerge,” he said, per Reuters. “All of this will somehow be formalized on paper within the next week to 10 days.” A meeting with Putin would presumably follow.
- Security guarantees: Trump said the US would be “involved” in keeping peace in Ukraine once a deal is reached, though he has ruled out the idea of sending ground troops. “We will give them very good protection and very good security,” he said, per the New York Times. Moscow had said Monday that it would not accept any peacekeeping efforts involving NATO members.
- Analysis: CNN‘s Stephen Collinson suggests Putin will never agree to NATO-like security guarantees for Ukraine after “fighting a war to crush his neighbor’s NATO aspirations.” He also questions whether Western nations are prepared to fight a war against Russia to save Ukraine from another invasion. Russia, of course, has broken prior pacts not to invade Ukraine, per the Wall Street Journal.
- Land swap: Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine should surrender its eastern Donbas region, including parts remaining under Ukrainian control, which Ukraine’s constitution prevents. That would “mean telling thousands of Ukrainians they have must leave home or become Russians,” writes Collinson, noting “land swaps create epochal upheaval and seed future feuds—as the Middle East shows.”
- Putin’s intentions: Some European officials question whether Putin is playing for time or negotiating in good faith, which would mean accepting that he’s failed his mission in Ukraine. By proposing terms unacceptable to Ukraine, Russia may be trying to shift “blame for a breakdown in talks to Kyiv,” allowing it to continue the war, per the Journal. It has rejected calls for a ceasefire during the talks.
- Kudos to Trump: Even if it all falls apart, Trump deserves credit for trying, writes Collison. “Monday’s meetings were the most compelling sign yet that the president really means it when he says he wants to stop the killing in Ukraine,” he notes. “He may deserve more credit than he gets for his energy and commitment so far.”
This is good news indeed that the people of Ukraine could actually realize some peace for a change….but is it good news?
I mean after years of war and the solution is something proposed before and dismissed….it still sounds like the US and NATO will be ass deep in Ukraine for years to come.
Is this truly a breakthrough or just another shot in the dark hoping for something that may never be?
I have reservation but I will give the process a chance and I wish all involved success.
So was it a breakthrough or much ado about nothing?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”