User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
War Criminal
Ukraine UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya to Russian Ambassador: “There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to Hell.” (United Nations Security Council, 2/23)
Author: craigcrawford
Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday called on all citizens who were ready to defend the country from Russian forces to come forward, saying Kyiv would issue weapons to everyone who wants them, Reuters reports.
Zelenskiy also urged Russians to come out and protest against the war.
Separately Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said “the situation is under control” and that Russian troops are suffering losses.
@MFA_Ukraine🇺🇦 Defence Forces, using the right for self-defence according to Article 51 of the @UN Charter, are countering with dignity the enemy’s attempts to break the state border. The situation is under control. 🇷🇺 troops are suffering losses. #StopRussianAggression #RussiaInvadedUkraine5:08 AM · Feb 24, 2022·
Ukraine was attacked through multiple borders, the Ukrainian state border service said early Thursday.
“At about 5:00 a.m., the state border of Ukraine in the area with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus was attacked by Russian troops supported by Belarus,” the service said.
It added that attacks are being carried out in Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions — areas on the eastern and northern borders of Ukraine. The attacks are targeting border units, border patrols and checkpoints using artillery, heavy equipment and small arms, the border service said.
“In addition, the attack takes place from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea side,” said the service.
Ukraine is firing back: It added that border guards, along with Ukraine’s Armed Forces and National Guard, are “firing at the enemy” depending on the situation on the border.
You can watch DW’s live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in this articleor on YouTube.
Ukrainian foreign minister: Russia attacking from multiple directions
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, “This is not a Russian invasion only in the east of Ukraine, but a full-scale attack from multiple directions.”
Kremlin ally: Ukraine must demilitarize to prevent war
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian Duma, called for Ukraine to be “demilitarized.”
Volodin said it was the only way to prevent war in Europe, Russian state news agency Ria reported. He is considered a close Kremlin ally.
Germany offers support to Poland
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement that her country would offer support to eastern European countries, notably Poland, that will likely soon face an influx of refugees spilling over from the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.
Faeser said, “We will offer massive support to the affected states — especially our neighbor Poland — in the event of large refugee movements.”
She added Germany’s security services have increased protections against the possibility of cyberattacks.
Latvian defense minister calls for Germany to allow lethal arms for Ukraine
“Please open your eyes. Please also allow Ukrainians to receive lethal aid, because the situation is totally different than it was before,” he told DW. “Germany is the largest European country; it’s time for you to act now because a lot depends on you.”
Pabriks also said the West had just “one chance” to counter the Russian invasion.
“First, we must start immediately with massive sanctions against the aggressor state of Russia. Secondly, we must provide the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian population with massive aid so they can prevail,” he said.
“That is the only way we can say that the blood of Ukrainians is not also on our hands,” Pabriks added.
[…]
Germany’s Baerbock to Putin: ‘You will never destroy the dream of democracy’
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has delivered a speech in which she directly addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling him: “You will never destroy the dream of democracy and freedom.”
“Many people in your country will be ashamed,” she said in another remark directed at the Russian leader.
“If we do not take a clear stance on this, we will pay an even higher price in future,” she said.
Earlier in her address, she also called on German citizens to immediately leave Ukraine for their safety, saying preparations had been made for the exit.
seeing those invitations to “watch live” on abc, cnn, the german network and others is almost a real world version of “the Hunger Games.” are we, sitting here in our comfy usa, the new spoiled rich of Panem, watching people get slaughtered in Putin’s war as a form of entertainment, projection or diversion from our humdrum lives?
Time to throw Russia off the Security council. That seat belongs to USSR which no longer exists. It is insane to have Russia in the chair when he threatens the whole of Europe.
At least temporarily cancel all student loans. Working people need the money in their pockets. On top of that encourage US oil producers. They are capable of producing more than enough for US consumers.
Oh, yes, Poobah. I’d call him soulless. We need to decide how to QUICKLY provide Ukraine with intelligence and weapons that are at a level sufficient to compete with the weapons Russia is using.
I suppose you could say Vlad’s trying to get the band back together. First Crimea, now Ukraine, next Poland? We could very well be on the front end of a slowly rolling war in Eastern Europe that won’t end until Vlad has invaded and occupied all the former Eastern Bloc countries.
Whip Inflation Now, The Remix: In addition to Jamie’s ideas, reinstate the moratorium on evictions , and, stop the price gouging that’s going on because some folks finally saw a wage increase to get them to a living wage. It’s not anymore; the CEOs have taken advantage and raise prices because they think others should bear the burden of those wage increases that they should’ve given long ago.
Last week, China supported the sovereignty of national borders. I figured since they think HK and Taiwan are theirs, they were telling the world too stay out of their business. Now, they’ve said just the opposite, and again, this points to peril for HK and Taiwan. ~I guess you really can have it both ways.~
A Ukrainian man has discovered a dog that looks exactly like Vladimir Putin. If it were anyone else in the world, we would assume this was simply a coincidence. But for a man so mysterious and strange as Putin, that somehow seems like the least plausible explanation. Here are three more realistictheories:
Chinese ties with Russia have grown stronger under President Xi Jinping, who met Putin this month in Beijing. China’s multibillion-dollar purchases of Russian gas for its energy-hungry economy have been a lifeline to Putin, who already was under Western sanctions over its 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.
China is the only major government to refrain from condemning Putin’s attack. But it tempered that by calling for restraint and respect for national sovereignty.
“We still hope that the parties concerned will not shut the door to peace and engage instead in dialogue and consultation and prevent the situation from further escalating,” said a foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying.
Meanwhile, China’s Embassy in Ukraine told its citizens there to stay home and to place a Chinese flag inside or on their vehicle if they needed to travel.
[…]
“On the one hand, we respect territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine, but on the other hand, we must consider the historical process of the situation where Russia has been pushed into a corner and forced to counterattack,” Li said.
China hasn’t endorsed Putin’s recognition of independence of eastern Ukraine’s separatist areas or his decision to send in soldiers, but Hua said Beijing “called on parties to respect others’ legitimate security concerns.”
[…]
Russia has spent much of the past decade trying to expand gas exports and other trade with China and East Asian markets to offset the impact of Crimea-related sanctions.
Last month, state-owned Gazprom signed a 30-year contract to supply natural gas to China’s northeast from the Russian Far East. The two sides agreed payment would be in euros to reduce their use of U.S. dollars, the common currency in natural resource markets.
Earlier, the two governments signed another gas-supply contract in 2014 after more than a decade of negotiations. Industry analysts said Russia gave in to Chinese pressure for favorable terms due to Moscow’s need for export revenue after the Crimea sanctions.
China, seemingly surprised by sudden Ukraine incursion, denies backing Russian attacks
By Christian Shepherd 8:17 a.m.
China on Thursday denied backing Russia’s military assault in Ukraine as it treaded a cautious line in response to a conflict that many Chinese analysts just days before were predicting wouldn’t happen.
At a regular briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying downplayed the suggestion that Beijing was supporting Moscow behind the scenes.
“As for American hints that Russia had China backing it up, I’m sure Russia would be pleased to hear it,” Hua said. “We won’t be like America and provide Ukraine a large amount of military equipment. Russia as a powerful nation also does not need China or other countries to provide [military assistance].”
Hua added that “China did not wish to see what happened in Ukraine today.”
From a global perspective, this could get interesting. Erdogan is supporting Ukraine. So the dictator of Turkey who slaughtered Kurds is coming in to the Austrian and French coalition against Russia while Iran supports Putin
This whole sanctions thing would have been a lot easier if Germany hadn’t shut down all its nuclear reactors and switched to Russian natural gas. After all who would have guessed.
Jack
not just china and iran leaning putin-ward, how ’bout those GOPers?
Jennifer Palmieri, Mark McKinnon and John Heilemann from “The Circus” try to explain why Vladimir Putin is twice as popular among Republicans as President Biden.
“According to a new poll from YouGov, American Republicans have a more favorable view of Vladimir Putin than Joe Biden,” explained Kimmel. “Fifteen percent of Republicans say they have a ‘very or somewhat favorable view’ of Putin compared to 10 percent for Biden.”
Then, Kimmel threw to a recent clip of Carlson defending Putin on his talk show.
“What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs? These are fair questions, and the answer to all of them is no,” said Carlson.
Kimmel, naturally, was appalled by the remarkably ignorant and selfish display.
“I see,” he said. “So, in order for you to despise a man who murders his rivals—who murders and poisons people—and who’s actively trying to destabilize our country, he has to do something to you personally. He has to eat your dog. Eh, well, he’s not doing anything to me! That makes sense. Thanks for asking all those very dumb questions and then answering them for us.”
“I want to see the tape Putin has of him, because it has to be something special,” he added. “And Tucker Carlson, he knows what he’s doing. He knows this is garbage he’s feeding these people who watch him. I tell you, between Tucker Carlson and Pam & Tommy, this really is the golden age of talking dicks on television.”
Of interest is not one single mention of Ukraine in FB. Later today I will drop one just to see if I get sent to FB jail.
KGB agent putin has had a full life of getting everything he wanted, first being president of Russia and then made dictator for life of Russia, and then Stalin for life (we don’t know about any gulogs – yet) of the Soviet empire. All of his opponents have a short life expectancy. This will continue until the guy is gone, in the KGB sense.
jack – Huh? What Jamie said plus what I said will give folks needed relief and that will be good for Biden.
Vlad’s war is going to tank the economy of nothing is done.
tRUMPsky’s base is blaming Biden for Vlad invading Ukraine. Faux News propaganda.
Pat
Well it looks like Putin has done what was once thought impossible. Bring Congressional right wing Trumpers forever and left wing together AOC and buddies, in opposition to,
Wait for it,
Just a bit longer.
Now,
Opposition to Biden. LOL
Jack
query: would U.S. armed drones flying over ukraine and surgically attacking putie’s invaders be inside or outside the biden promise to not send american combat troops in? technically, the troops manning the drones would be nowhere near ukraine and the drones are in reality military weapons not troops.
patD – That idea has more truth in it than Vlad saying he’s invading as a defense. Just make sure the drones have a self-destruct button so they don’t fall into the wrong hands if brought down.
The official Twitter account of the country of Ukraine shared a cartoon showing Adolf Hitler smiling down on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The cartoon was posted by the account today, 24 February, amidst Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
The image was earlier posted without any caption this morning. The picture shows Hitler smiling down on Putin, with a proud look on his face. The cartoon reflects the history of the region during World War II, when German forces under Hitler invaded Ukraine and other parts of the then-Soviet Union in 1941. Through this image, Ukraine indicated that they were being invaded one again, this time by Moscow’s forces.
Hours later, Ukraine added a statement, saying that the cartoon was not a meme, “our and your reality right now.”
The photo went viral in a matter of hours and prompted various reactions on social media. Some individuals questioned the intent behind the post and stated that it was not the appropriate reaction to an invasion.
[continues]
On the drone thing, depends on who controls them. If they are controlled by raytheon contractors in an undisclosed location-
Then they could be in the employ of the Ukraine government.
Biden could then say, “We didn’t do it”
Jamie… I saw the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN speak last night also. Very powerful. IMO, the very least that the UN should do today is throw Russia off the Security Counsel.
I guess all those years as a young woman watching Phil Donahue trying to make the Russians seem like normal people is now a moot point.
jack – I’m old enough to remember WIN. We’re having a period of inflation and the top is getting richer, while preventing those at the bottom from seeing any real gains. How are ideas to help folks with their personal economies in a time where inflation is eating up more of there paychecks non-sequitors? Help at the pump and with student loans, as Jamie said; most drive but not all have student loans, however, everyone needs to eat and have a roof over their head.
I’m an Elizabeth Warren Democrat, but I love POTUS Joe.
“Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl [Nuclear Power Plant]. Our defenders are sacrificing their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated,” Zelensky tweeted.
“This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe,” he added.
It’s time to bomb the ever-loving crap out of ‘em.
I guess all those Republican Senators dining with Putin had no effect. Since the day Biden was inaugurated, the GOP has either voted No or not even bothered to show up for work. Biden is one man. Fortunately for the citizens of the US he is not a dictator. Unfortunately for the people of the US, the Republicans preferred the one who wanted to be and who had already undermined Ukraine while he was in office.
Bink
Failure? How so?
What I’m seeing is a strong unified NATO. Maga peeps looking like total fools. A win for centrist & internationalist.
We have adults in charge.
Jack
Let’s assume for a moment that Vladimir Putin succeeds in gaining fullcontrol of Ukraine, as he shows every intention of doing. What are the strategic and geopolitical consequences?
The first will be a new front line of conflict in Central Europe. Until now, Russian forces could deploy only as far as Ukraine’s eastern border, several hundred miles from Poland and other NATO countries to Ukraine’s west. When the Russians complete their operation, they will be able to station forces — land, air and missile — in bases in western Ukraine as well as Belarus, which has effectively become a Russian satrapy.
Russian forces will thus be arrayed along Poland’s entire 650-mile eastern border, as well as along the eastern borders of Slovakia and Hungary and the northern border of Romania. (Moldova will likely be brought under Russian control, too, when Russian troops are able to form a land bridge from Crimea to Moldova’s breakaway province of Transnistria.) Russia without Ukraine is, as former secretary of state Dean Acheson once said of the Soviet Union, “Upper Volta with rockets.” Russia with Ukraine is a different strategic animal entirely.
The most immediate threat will be to the Baltic states. Russia already borders Estonia and Latvia directly and touches Lithuania through Belarus and through its outpost in Kaliningrad. Even before the invasion, some questioned whether NATO could actually defend its Baltic members from a Russian attack. Once Russia has completed its conquest of Ukraine, that question will acquire new urgency.
One likely flash point will be Kaliningrad. The headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, this city and its surrounding territory were cut off from the rest of Russia when the Soviet Union broke up. Since then, Russians have been able to access Kaliningrad only through Poland and Lithuania. Expect a Russian demand for a direct corridor that would put strips of the countries under Russian control. But even that would be just one piece of what is sure to be a new Russian strategy to delink the Baltics from NATO by demonstrating that the alliance cannot any longer hope to protect those countries.
Indeed, with Poland, Hungary and five other NATO members sharing a border with a new, expanded Russia, the ability of the United States and NATO to defend the alliance’s eastern flank will be seriously diminished.
* * *
Today, Putin seeks at the very least a two-tier NATO, in which no allied forces are deployed on former Warsaw Pact territory. The inevitable negotiations over this and other elements of a new European security “architecture” would be conducted with Russian forces poised all along NATO’s eastern borders and therefore amid real uncertainty about NATO’s ability to resist Putin’s demands.
This takes place, moreover, as China threatens to upend the strategic balance in East Asia, perhaps with an attack of some kind against Taiwan. From a strategic point of view, Taiwan can either be a major obstacle to Chinese regional hegemony, as it is now; or it can be the first big step toward Chinese military dominance in East Asia and the Western Pacific, as it would be after a takeover, peaceful or otherwise. Were Beijing somehow able to force the Taiwanese to accept Chinese sovereignty, the rest of Asia would panic and look to the United States for help.
* * *
A final word about Ukraine: It will likely cease to exist as an independent entity. Putin and other Russians have long insisted it is not a nation at all; it is part of Russia. Setting history and sentiment aside, it would be bad strategy forPutin to allow Ukraine to continue to exist as a nation after all the trouble and expense of an invasion. That is a recipe for endless conflict. After Russia installs a government, expect Ukraine’s new Moscow-directed rulers to seek the eventual legal incorporation of Ukraine into Russia, a process already underway in Belarus.
Some analysts today imagine a Ukrainian insurgency sprouting up against Russian domination. Perhaps. But the Ukrainian people cannot be expected to fight a full-spectrum war with whatever they have in their homes. To have any hope against Russian occupation forces, an insurgency will need to be supplied and supported from neighboring countries. Will Poland play that role, with Russian forces directly across the border? Will the Baltics? Or Hungary? And if they do, will the Russians not feel justified in attacking the insurgents’ supply routes, even if they happen to lie in the territory of neighboring NATO members? It is wishful thinking to imagine that this conflict stops with Ukraine.
The map of Europe has experienced many changes over the centuries. Its current shape reflects the expansion of U.S. power and the collapse of Russian power from the 1980s until now; the next one will likely reflect the revival of Russian military power and the retraction of U.S. influence. If combined with Chinese gains in East Asia and the Western Pacific, it will herald the end of the present order and the beginning of an era of global disorder and conflict as every region in the world shakily adjusts to a new configuration of power.
Craig
An interesting leak, not the fact that we can do it as an option but that they would leak the fact. A threat with out having to say it out loud?
Jack
i support our President but losing an ally isn’t a “win”. Putin has shown his hand, now maybe we can stop playing his game, ‘cuz he’s 5 moves ahead in that
“Even if Russian hackers don’t directly set their sights on US entities, Ukraine’s dependence on foreign technology can pose big problems for the United States, according to Lin.”
“For example, Ukraine doesn’t have its own spy satellites, so where does it get its spy imagery? It gets it from commercial satellites,” Lin said, with some of the companies behind those commercial satellites potentially located in the United States. “That’s an obvious place you would expect Russian cyberattacks to be targeted. And that’s just one example of what could be possible.”
Ike kept Patton from going on and taking Russia. Stalin would not like it, and the Soviets had a decent tank for the times.
The hardest thing for me to try to understand is how fifty percentish of Americans do not see this as a threat to America and the world. I do try to accept that percentage might be those who had not seen or experienced the Cold War. They are now on their front steps watching a Cold War turn hot.
There is a large increase in cyber attacks today. Expected and being handled.
—————————————————–
And for more news
Just got a new email from security types reminding us that we should have food and water stored away; cash on hand in case the ATMs or credit card systems are down; keep vehicles fueled up above half full; ensure you have a family plan, and some other stuff. One that is probably a good idea if you have electronic documents, such as insurance plans, health plans, drivers license and such, load them up on a cloud server. There are many out there. I use Microsoft One Drive for a lot of it.
BB, thanks for the heads up. too bad weather is in the way of getting to the gas pump as i’m down to half a tank. hope vlad holds off ’til the weekend cause i’ve also got some bills to pay among other vitals.
new excuse in lieu of “the check is in the mail”: sorry the russians ate my payment.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said Thursday that a platoon of Russian soldiers surrendered to the Ukrainian military, saying they “didn’t know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians.”
At a press briefing, Markarova said, “Just before I came here, we got information from our chief commander that one of the platoons of the 74th motorized brigade from Kemerovo Oblast surrendered.”
“They didn’t know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians. They thought they were doing something else there,” she added.
“Russian stocks crashed and the ruble hit a record low against the dollar on Thursday after Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine.”
“The crash wiped about $70 billion off the value of Russia’s biggest companies.”
“The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia called for Russia to be ejected from SWIFT, the secure messaging services that facilitates payments among 11,000 financial institutions in 200 countries.”
“Excluding Russia from SWIFT would cause its economy to shrink by 5%…”
Why Europe is so dependent on Russia for natural gas
The EU is the largest importer of natural gas in the world, according to the Directorate-General for Energy for the EU, with the largest share of its gas coming from Russia (41%). The region used to be independent for natural gas, but then the North Sea reserves dried up. Europe is also focusing on renewables, but the grid is not yet equipped for intermittent sources like wind and solar to completely fill the gap.
“…millions in Norway and across Europe are increasingly turning to heat pumps as a hyper-efficient, eco-friendly way to warm their homes. According to data from the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), nearly 15 million households in Europe had heat pumps in 2020, up 7.4 percent from the year before.”
“But Norway’s embrace of heat pumps eventually arrived, fueled by government subsidies, high fossil fuel taxes, low electricity rates and restrictions on oil boilers (which have been banned since 2020).”
“While the European Commission aims to phase out fossil fuels in heating and cooling by 2040, that means 40 percent of residential and 65 percent of commercial buildings will need to be heated with electricity by 2030.”
KGB agent Putin has always had goals, even more expansive than Stalin. He first wants the Soviet Union rebuilt. Watch out Poland. Second, he wants to destroy the United States. Unfortunately we have many who are acting as Russian agents and want to help him with that. Traitors are their name.
In a video statement, Ukrainian President Zelensky says the enemy has marked him as the number one target. “They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We have information that enemy sabotage groups have entered Kyiv.” Says he will remain.
Ukraine’s Office of the President said that Penn came to Kyiv to “tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country,”
“Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn is in Ukraine, attending press conferences and meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russia begins its invasion of the Eastern European country.”
“Penn spent time in Ukraine in November, when he met with Ukrainian forces as tensions rose between the country and neighboring Russia.”
“I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Mr. Bush said in a statement. “The American government and people must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they seek freedom and the right to choose their own future. We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses.”
W rarely weighs in on things, but as the only, former Republican POTUS who is not a pawn of Poo-tin, he needed to do it.
“Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine using military and cyber weapons violates international law and the fundamental human rights of the Ukrainian people,” Carter said in a statement posted on Twitter. “I condemn this unjust assault on the sovereignty of Ukraine that threatens security in Europe and the entire world, and I call on President Putin to halt all military action and restore peace.”
The US and allies, the former President said, “must stand with the people of Ukraine in support of their right to peace, security, and self-determination.”
Russia-Ukraine crisis live news: international outcry as Putin launches ‘full-scale invasion’ – latest updates | World news | The Guardian
@MFA_Ukraine🇺🇦 Defence Forces, using the right for self-defence according to Article 51 of the @UN Charter, are countering with dignity the enemy’s attempts to break the state border. The situation is under control. 🇷🇺 troops are suffering losses. #StopRussianAggression #RussiaInvadedUkraine5:08 AM · Feb 24, 2022·
(41) Ukraine says it was attacked through Russian, Belarus and Crimea borders (cnn.com)
Russia launches massive invasion of Ukraine — live updates | News | DW | 24.02.2022
seeing those invitations to “watch live” on abc, cnn, the german network and others is almost a real world version of “the Hunger Games.” are we, sitting here in our comfy usa, the new spoiled rich of Panem, watching people get slaughtered in Putin’s war as a form of entertainment, projection or diversion from our humdrum lives?
musical score for the coming show
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has given a powerful address directed to Russia. ‘We will defend ourselves, he said.
This man is evil.
Time to throw Russia off the Security council. That seat belongs to USSR which no longer exists. It is insane to have Russia in the chair when he threatens the whole of Europe.
At least temporarily cancel all student loans. Working people need the money in their pockets. On top of that encourage US oil producers. They are capable of producing more than enough for US consumers.
If you can afford it go buy a hybrid.
Oh, yes, Poobah. I’d call him soulless. We need to decide how to QUICKLY provide Ukraine with intelligence and weapons that are at a level sufficient to compete with the weapons Russia is using.
China just announced supporting Russia ?????
Hmm, I wonder why China would do that?🙄 visions of things to come in E & SE Asia? For some reason the name Taiwan comes to mind.
Taiwan
I suppose you could say Vlad’s trying to get the band back together. First Crimea, now Ukraine, next Poland? We could very well be on the front end of a slowly rolling war in Eastern Europe that won’t end until Vlad has invaded and occupied all the former Eastern Bloc countries.
Auschwitz Memorial Statement
Whip Inflation Now, The Remix: In addition to Jamie’s ideas, reinstate the moratorium on evictions , and, stop the price gouging that’s going on because some folks finally saw a wage increase to get them to a living wage. It’s not anymore; the CEOs have taken advantage and raise prices because they think others should bear the burden of those wage increases that they should’ve given long ago.
Vlad – You’re next stop not going to visit an anthropomorphized mouse at a theme park. You’re going to The Hague…and then to hell.
Last week, China supported the sovereignty of national borders. I figured since they think HK and Taiwan are theirs, they were telling the world too stay out of their business. Now, they’ve said just the opposite, and again, this points to peril for HK and Taiwan. ~I guess you really can have it both ways.~
as the song/slang expression goes: who let the dog out? Xi Xi Xi
Three Theories on Why This Dog Looks Exactly Like Vladimir Putin (nymag.com)
marketwatch:
wapo:
From a global perspective, this could get interesting. Erdogan is supporting Ukraine. So the dictator of Turkey who slaughtered Kurds is coming in to the Austrian and French coalition against Russia while Iran supports Putin
jamie, not too surprising about iran since it has made noises in the past about wanting to revive the persian empire.
This whole sanctions thing would have been a lot easier if Germany hadn’t shut down all its nuclear reactors and switched to Russian natural gas. After all who would have guessed.
Jack
not just china and iran leaning putin-ward, how ’bout those GOPers?
Jennifer Palmieri, Mark McKinnon and John Heilemann from “The Circus” try to explain why Vladimir Putin is twice as popular among Republicans as President Biden.
BiD
What is it about you and the Russian trolls
LOL it is 2016 all over again.
Jack
Cyber-attacks on Ukraine could affect Poland and justify NATO retaliation
thedailybeast:
Of interest is not one single mention of Ukraine in FB. Later today I will drop one just to see if I get sent to FB jail.
KGB agent putin has had a full life of getting everything he wanted, first being president of Russia and then made dictator for life of Russia, and then Stalin for life (we don’t know about any gulogs – yet) of the Soviet empire. All of his opponents have a short life expectancy. This will continue until the guy is gone, in the KGB sense.
jack – Huh? What Jamie said plus what I said will give folks needed relief and that will be good for Biden.
Vlad’s war is going to tank the economy of nothing is done.
tRUMPsky’s base is blaming Biden for Vlad invading Ukraine. Faux News propaganda.
Pat
Well it looks like Putin has done what was once thought impossible. Bring Congressional right wing Trumpers forever and left wing together AOC and buddies, in opposition to,
Wait for it,
Just a bit longer.
Now,
Opposition to Biden. LOL
Jack
query: would U.S. armed drones flying over ukraine and surgically attacking putie’s invaders be inside or outside the biden promise to not send american combat troops in? technically, the troops manning the drones would be nowhere near ukraine and the drones are in reality military weapons not troops.
This don’t sound good. Chernobyl nuclear waste facility destroyed amid Russian invasion. https://t.co/gPLxmMyxe5
patD – That idea has more truth in it than Vlad saying he’s invading as a defense. Just make sure the drones have a self-destruct button so they don’t fall into the wrong hands if brought down.
Biden only said no US troops in Ukraine. Doesn’t rule out air strikes.
It was your cute WIN statement, the non sequiturs that followed were just icing on the disinformation cake.
Jack
Ukraine tweets cartoon showing Adolf Hitler with Vladimir Putin amid Russian attack (msn.com)
On the drone thing, depends on who controls them. If they are controlled by raytheon contractors in an undisclosed location-
Then they could be in the employ of the Ukraine government.
Biden could then say, “We didn’t do it”
Jack
Jamie… I saw the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN speak last night also. Very powerful. IMO, the very least that the UN should do today is throw Russia off the Security Counsel.
I guess all those years as a young woman watching Phil Donahue trying to make the Russians seem like normal people is now a moot point.
Renee they are normal, just like the maga crowd. We are the weird ones.
Jack
A few stinger missiles on those drones and you probably wouldn’t see any more pictures of helicopters flying in the air over Kyiv.
Jack
Jack… LOL!
I will wear that moniker proudly 🙂
jack – I’m old enough to remember WIN. We’re having a period of inflation and the top is getting richer, while preventing those at the bottom from seeing any real gains. How are ideas to help folks with their personal economies in a time where inflation is eating up more of there paychecks non-sequitors? Help at the pump and with student loans, as Jamie said; most drive but not all have student loans, however, everyone needs to eat and have a roof over their head.
I’m an Elizabeth Warren Democrat, but I love POTUS Joe.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/index.html
“Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl [Nuclear Power Plant]. Our defenders are sacrificing their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated,” Zelensky tweeted.
“This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe,” he added.
It’s time to bomb the ever-loving crap out of ‘em.
i see trailmix has deployed its keyboard commandos
The right play is letting Putin take it if Ukrainians can’t hold it
This is, indeed, Trump’s fault, but it’s a foreign-policy failure of the Biden admin. Buck stops there
Bink
I guess all those Republican Senators dining with Putin had no effect. Since the day Biden was inaugurated, the GOP has either voted No or not even bothered to show up for work. Biden is one man. Fortunately for the citizens of the US he is not a dictator. Unfortunately for the people of the US, the Republicans preferred the one who wanted to be and who had already undermined Ukraine while he was in office.
Bink
Failure? How so?
What I’m seeing is a strong unified NATO. Maga peeps looking like total fools. A win for centrist & internationalist.
We have adults in charge.
Jack
William Cohen just said on MSNBC it’s time to file war crime charges
Robert Kagan riffs on likely scenarios that support US pressure on PutiePoo.
I’m with Jack on this one.
US intelligence agencies offer Biden options for a “large-scale cyber attack” against Russia – NBC
Craig
An interesting leak, not the fact that we can do it as an option but that they would leak the fact. A threat with out having to say it out loud?
Jack
i support our President but losing an ally isn’t a “win”. Putin has shown his hand, now maybe we can stop playing his game, ‘cuz he’s 5 moves ahead in that
Maybe Vlad can install tRUMPsky as the new, puppet prez in Ukraine.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/tech/russia-ukraine-us-sanctions-cyberattacks/index.html
“Even if Russian hackers don’t directly set their sights on US entities, Ukraine’s dependence on foreign technology can pose big problems for the United States, according to Lin.”
“For example, Ukraine doesn’t have its own spy satellites, so where does it get its spy imagery? It gets it from commercial satellites,” Lin said, with some of the companies behind those commercial satellites potentially located in the United States. “That’s an obvious place you would expect Russian cyberattacks to be targeted. And that’s just one example of what could be possible.”
Ike kept Patton from going on and taking Russia. Stalin would not like it, and the Soviets had a decent tank for the times.
The hardest thing for me to try to understand is how fifty percentish of Americans do not see this as a threat to America and the world. I do try to accept that percentage might be those who had not seen or experienced the Cold War. They are now on their front steps watching a Cold War turn hot.
There is a large increase in cyber attacks today. Expected and being handled.
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And for more news
Just got a new email from security types reminding us that we should have food and water stored away; cash on hand in case the ATMs or credit card systems are down; keep vehicles fueled up above half full; ensure you have a family plan, and some other stuff. One that is probably a good idea if you have electronic documents, such as insurance plans, health plans, drivers license and such, load them up on a cloud server. There are many out there. I use Microsoft One Drive for a lot of it.
BB, thanks for the heads up. too bad weather is in the way of getting to the gas pump as i’m down to half a tank. hope vlad holds off ’til the weekend cause i’ve also got some bills to pay among other vitals.
new excuse in lieu of “the check is in the mail”: sorry the russians ate my payment.
wonder if there’ll be more like these. if so, it will have an impact.
Ukrainian ambassador says Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces | TheHill
Bomb strikes Turkish-owned ship in Black Sea; no injuries reported | TheHill
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/investing/ruble-russian-stocks-crash/index.html
“Russian stocks crashed and the ruble hit a record low against the dollar on Thursday after Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine.”
“The crash wiped about $70 billion off the value of Russia’s biggest companies.”
“The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia called for Russia to be ejected from SWIFT, the secure messaging services that facilitates payments among 11,000 financial institutions in 200 countries.”
“Excluding Russia from SWIFT would cause its economy to shrink by 5%…”
The Russians have captured an airfield 20 miles from Kyiv.
Paratroopers landing in Odessa .
We’re all about to learn something about the price of corn.
The EU is the largest importer of natural gas in the world, according to the Directorate-General for Energy for the EU, with the largest share of its gas coming from Russia (41%).
The region used to be independent for natural gas, but then the North Sea reserves dried up.
Europe is also focusing on renewables, but the grid is not yet equipped for intermittent sources like wind and solar to completely fill the gap.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/24/why-europe-depends-on-russia-for-natural-gas.html
Maybe they’ll pay more attention to Greta now.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/we-dont-want-this-russians-react-to-the-ukraine-invasion
Stuff from the White House today:
WH Fact Sheet on sanctions.
Jen Psaki’s statement for press briefing.
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/heat-pumps-norway-efficiency-emissions/
“…millions in Norway and across Europe are increasingly turning to heat pumps as a hyper-efficient, eco-friendly way to warm their homes. According to data from the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), nearly 15 million households in Europe had heat pumps in 2020, up 7.4 percent from the year before.”
“But Norway’s embrace of heat pumps eventually arrived, fueled by government subsidies, high fossil fuel taxes, low electricity rates and restrictions on oil boilers (which have been banned since 2020).”
“While the European Commission aims to phase out fossil fuels in heating and cooling by 2040, that means 40 percent of residential and 65 percent of commercial buildings will need to be heated with electricity by 2030.”
Bob, I know that Biden was a party to talks with Qatar to provide gas to the EU. Any idea whether that is expected to come to fruition?
KGB agent Putin has always had goals, even more expansive than Stalin. He first wants the Soviet Union rebuilt. Watch out Poland. Second, he wants to destroy the United States. Unfortunately we have many who are acting as Russian agents and want to help him with that. Traitors are their name.
They need to cut Russia off from SWIFT. Unless they do that, Russia can still operate.
In a video statement, Ukrainian President Zelensky says the enemy has marked him as the number one target. “They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We have information that enemy sabotage groups have entered Kyiv.” Says he will remain.
Yep, Vlad’s not looking to take back two, pro-Russia areas. He’s going to Kyiv to take over.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/entertainment/sean-penn-ukraine-documentary-russia-cec/index.html
Ukraine’s Office of the President said that Penn came to Kyiv to “tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country,”
“Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn is in Ukraine, attending press conferences and meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russia begins its invasion of the Eastern European country.”
“Penn spent time in Ukraine in November, when he met with Ukrainian forces as tensions rose between the country and neighboring Russia.”
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news/card/GMoBd9vyvURp3DljjB14
“I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Mr. Bush said in a statement. “The American government and people must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they seek freedom and the right to choose their own future. We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses.”
W rarely weighs in on things, but as the only, former Republican POTUS who is not a pawn of Poo-tin, he needed to do it.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/politics/jimmy-carter-former-presidents-ukraine-russia/index.html
“Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine using military and cyber weapons violates international law and the fundamental human rights of the Ukrainian people,” Carter said in a statement posted on Twitter. “I condemn this unjust assault on the sovereignty of Ukraine that threatens security in Europe and the entire world, and I call on President Putin to halt all military action and restore peace.”
The US and allies, the former President said, “must stand with the people of Ukraine in support of their right to peace, security, and self-determination.”
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