The Winds of War Words

meanwhile, another sort of word war on the other side of the world

Here’s the deal China offers American companies and celebrities: we’ll give you access to our billion-plus consumers, as long as you shut up about the whole “police state-genocide” thing.

bink, wouldn’t be surprised if your post last thread shows up in SNL skit tonight

 Maybe he has a stand-up gig in Munch he can’t get out of

”Take my country… please!”  

this whole miserable thing for ukraine does have the makings of a pretty dark comedic movie plot in years to come. 

there have been past stories of the jester in the court heroically confronting danger – can’t remember whether it was a mark twain tale or a danny kaye/charlie chaplin type movie.

as to the phrase “war is hell”

“I’ve been where you are now and I know just how you feel. It’s entirely natural that there should beat in the breast of every one of you a hope and desire that some day you can use the skill you have acquired here. Suppress it! You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, “war is Hell!”
William Tecumseh Sherman speaking to the graduating class of the Michigan Military Academy on June 19, 1879

Hawkeye: War isn’t hell. War is war and hell is hell, and of the two, war is worse.
Fr. Mulcahy: How do you figure that, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, father. Tell me, who goes to hell?
Fr. Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell, but war is chock full of them. Little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for a few brass involved, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

from same guardian link:

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy challenged the west to explain why it had not done more to protect Ukraine, not just now that the country was under the threat of invasion by Russia, but during the onslaught over the past eight years. Describing the policy as one of appeasement, he called for world leaders to meet to create a new security architecture.
He also called for Nato to give an indication of how long it would take for Ukraine to be given membership, and in the meantime for the country to be given security guarantees.
Flying to Munich from Kyiv with America warning a Russian attack on his capital was imminent, Zelenskiy said he had left his country in good hands with its soldiers and people. “I had my breakfast in Ukraine and I will have my dinner in Ukraine,” he reassured the audience.
He used much of his 20-minute address to challenge the west about what had happened to its promise of Nato membership, and asked what message the west had for the two soldiers killed on the frontline on Saturday.
He said he did not know what Vladimir Putin wanted, which was why he proposed a meeting, saying he was willing to discuss the Minsk agreements with him.
“We do not need your sanctions after our country has been bombarded and we have lost our borders.”
He added that if Russia pulled back its troops there would be no sanctions, but then said he feared “if the west cannot even disclose what will happen to whom when the war starts then I doubt it will be triggered at all after it happens”.
He insisted his army was keeping calm, resilient and adult in the face of cynical Russian attacks on the territory it controls, he nevertheless acknowledged that the risks were high and one provocative shell fire could yet spark war. He said his country could not secure stability if there were constant predictions of war the next day.
“Ukraine is longing for peace. Europe is longing for peace. The world is saying it does not want any war and Russia is claiming it does want to intervene. Someone here is lying.”
“We are told that the doors of Nato are open but for the moment we are told that it is not possible. Are these doors really open? You have an open door but strangers do not seem to be allowed.
“Open doors are good, but we need answers,” he said. “If you don’t want to see us there, be honest about it. All these questions require answers.”
Recalling the recent attacks on a kindergarten in eastern Ukraine, he said the “kids were not turning to Nato, they were going to their classrooms”.
He opened by asking: “Has our world completely forgotten the mistakes of the 20th century and where does the appeasement policy usually lead to? These are horrific history lessons. How did we get to this point in the 21st century where the war is being waged and where people are dying how did we end up in the biggest security crisis since the end of the cold war?”
He added: “The security architecture of our world is brittle, obsolete and the rules that were agreed dozens of years ago are no longer working. The security system is slow and failing us time and time again.”
He blamed “egotism, arrogance and irresponsibility at the global level. Some countries resort to crime and others resort to indifference”.
“It is too late to fix the current architecture. It is high time for a new one before we pay with millions of casualties.”
He vowed his country would support itself with or without the help of its partners.

i know ukraine is not finlandia but the piece seems to fit today’s mood. in any case, it’s time for a musical interlude.

Finlandia, Op. 26 is a symphonic poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The first version was written in 1899, and it was revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire, as the last of seven pieces, each performed as an accompaniment to a tableau depicting episodes from Finnish history. The premiere was on 2 July 1900 in Helsinki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society conducted by Robert Kajanus. A typical performance takes anywhere from 7½ to 9 minutes. A recurrent joke within Finland at this time was the renaming of Finlandia at various musical concerts so as to avoid Russian censorship. Titles under which the piece masqueraded were numerous, a famously flippant example being Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring. Most of the piece is taken up with rousing and turbulent music, evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people. But towards the end, a calm comes over the orchestra, and the serenely melodic Finlandia Hymn is heard. Often incorrectly cited as a traditional folk melody, the Hymn section is of Sibelius’s own creation. Although initially composed for orchestra, in 1900 Sibelius arranged the entire work for solo piano. Sibelius later reworked the Finlandia Hymn into a stand-alone piece. This hymn, with words written in 1941 by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, is one of the most important national songs of Finland (though Maamme is the national anthem). With different words, it is also sung as a Christian hymn (Be Still, My Soul), and was the national anthem of the short-lived African state of Biafra (Land of the Rising Sun).