“The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power,” the committee’s chair and vice chair, Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement Wednesday.
Trump and Eastman have not been charged with any crime.
Both pictures show evidence of illegal acts, one a war crime, and the other part of something also very serious, to wit:
“[The select committee] said they had accumulated evidence demonstrating that Mr. Trump, the conservative lawyer John Eastman, and other allies could potentially be charged with criminal violations including obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the American people.”
Oh, and another thing: For some reason, Ch can never simply stick to facts.
I have said, not that Ukraine "is winning" the war, but that I would like to think that Ukraine could win this war, but have my doubts and my worries about that.
The Select Committee's members have previously said they will consider passing along evidence of criminal conduct by Trump to the U.S. Justice Department. Such a move, known as a criminal referral, would be largely symbolic but would increase political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge the former president and would thrust his department into a political firestorm.
But evidence and information available to the Committee establishes a good-faith belief that Mr. Trump and others may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts," the committee said in a court filing.
There’s still some stragglers like PBS to come in, but right now it looks like Joe Biden ’s first State of the Union speech was watched by about 37 million people last night.
That figure comes from the addition of data from Univision (1.4 million), Newsmax (462,00), CNBC (285,000) and Telemundo (1.2 million) to slightly tweaked results of earlier today from the broadcasters and the cable newsers. At this rate, POTUS’ SOTU looks certain to end up with over 38 million viewers when all the outlets are accounted for.
If the final numbers for Biden’s speech show it in the 37 million range, it will comparable to the viewership for President Donald Trump ’s State of the Union address in 2020, the last of his term. That address, which drew 37.2 million, stood out for his presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s tearing up of a copy of Trump’s speech.
PREVIOUSLY, 12:01 PM: In his successful 2020 White House bid, candidate Joe Biden campaigned as a unifier trying to save the soul of America. Last night, in his first State of the Union address, the 46th President of the United States doubled down on that unity theme.
The G-7 (Group of Seven) major economies have imposed unprecedented punitive sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia along with widespread measures by the west against the country’s oligarchs and officials. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday told a French radio station that the aim of the latest round of sanctions was to “cause the collapse of the Russian economy.”
LONDON — Western nations have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a raft of sanctions intended to cripple the country’s economy, and economists suggest it could work.
The G-7 (Group of Seven) major economies have imposed unprecedented punitive sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia along with widespread measures by the West against the country’s oligarchs and officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What I find most distressing about Lil Schitty's false comparison is his party had 3 members vote against Ukraine support.....Even more telling are the cherry picked fotos he posted to support his stupid tenet!!!! One of his fellow rioters awaiting sentencing took his life in jail....sad but another one biting the dust is a good start!!! He still can't admit trump lost is like Putin thinking Ukraine would fall to its knees and welcome his army!!!!!!! Sure seems to be a common trait of these GOP losers.....money and massive egos as evidenced by a model child wife!!!!!!! Sad that he thinks life revolves around his biased views while no others exist!!!!!!!!
New York Times: “On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry for the first time announced a death toll for Russian servicemen in the conflict. While casualty figures in wartime are notoriously unreliable — and Ukraine has put the total of Russian dead in the thousands — the 498 Moscow acknowledged in the seven days of fighting is the largest in any of its military operations since the war in Chechnya, which marked the beginning of President Vladimir Putin’s tenure in 1999.
“Russians who long avoided engaging with politics are now realizing that their country is fighting a deadly conflict, even as the Kremlin gets ever more aggressive in trying to shape the narrative. Its slow-motion crackdown on freedoms has become a whirlwind of repression of late, as the last vestiges of a free press faced extinction.”
Lavrov Says Russia Will Continue War ‘Until the End’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he believed some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia and that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until “the end,” Reuters reports.
Times of London: “Russian forces shelled schools, hospitals and homes across Ukraine yesterday as President Putin’s invasion threatened to escalate into a long war of attrition.”
Well one thing Putin has done which no other world leader has, he has United the EU, the US, all of the Baltic countries, Sweden, Switzerland, and most of the rest of western civilization along with Ukraine. Let’s pray that this unity is not wasted.
HELSINKI (AP) — Through the Cold War and the decades since, nothing could persuade Finns and Swedes that they would be better off joining NATO — until now.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has profoundly changed Europe’s security outlook, including for Nordic neutrals Finland and Sweden, where support for joining NATO has surged to record levels.
A poll commissioned by Finnish broadcaster YLE this week showed that, for the first time, more than 50% of Finns support joining the Western military alliance. In neighboring Sweden, a similar poll showed those in favor of NATO membership outnumber those against.
“The unthinkable might start to become thinkable,” tweeted former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, a proponent of NATO membership.
Neither country is going to join the alliance overnight. Support for NATO membership rises and falls, and there's no clear majority for joining in their parliaments.
But the signs of change since Russia began its invasion last week are unmistakable.
The attack on Ukraine prompted both Finland and Sweden to break with their policy of not providing arms to countries at war by sending assault rifles and anti-tank weapons to Kyiv. For Sweden, it’s the first time offering military aid since 1939, when it assisted Finland against the Soviet Union.
Apparently sensing a shift among its Nordic neighbors, the Russian Foreign Ministry last week voiced concern about what it described as efforts by the United States and some of its allies to “drag” Finland and Sweden into NATO and warned that Moscow would be forced to take retaliatory measures if they joined the alliance.
The governments of Sweden and Finland retorted that they won’t let Moscow dictate their security policy.
“I want to be extremely clear: It is Sweden that itself and independently decides on our security policy line,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.
Finland has a conflict-ridden history with Russia, with which it shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border. Finns have taken part in dozens of wars against their eastern neighbor, for centuries as part of the Swedish Kingdom, and as an independent nation during the world wars, including two fought with the Soviet Union from 1939-40 and 1941-44.
In the postwar period, however, Finland pursued pragmatic political and economic ties with Moscow, remaining militarily nonaligned and a neutral buffer between East and West.
Sweden has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, choosing a path of peace after centuries of warfare with its neighbors.
Both countries put an end to traditional neutrality by joining the European Union in 1995 and deepening cooperation with NATO. However, a majority of people in both countries remained firmly against full membership in the alliance — until Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The YLE poll showed 53% were in favor of Finland joining NATO, with only 28% against. The poll had an error margin of 2.5 percentage points and included 1,382 respondents interviewed Feb. 23 to 25. Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24.
“It’s a very significant shift,” said senior researcher Matti Pesu from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. “We’ve had a situation in the past 25-30 years where Finns’ opinions on NATO have been very stable. It seems to now to have changed completely.”
While noting that it’s not possible to draw conclusions from a single poll, Pesu said no similar shift in public opinion occurred after Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia and the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, “so this is an exception.”
In Sweden, a late February poll commissioned by the Swedish public broadcaster SVT found 41% of Swedes supported NATO membership and 35% opposed it, marking the first time that those in favor exceeded those against.
The Nordic duo, important partners for NATO in the Baltic Sea area where Russia has substantially increased its military maneuvers in the past decade, has strongly stressed that it is up to them alone to decide whether to join the military alliance.
In his New Year’s speech, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto pointedly said that “Finland’s room to maneuver and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and of applying for NATO membership, should we ourselves so decide.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted last week that for Helsinki and Stockholm “this is a question of self-determination and the sovereign right to choose your own path and then potentially in the future, also to apply for NATO.”
There are no set criteria for joining NATO, but aspiring candidates must meet certain political and other considerations. Many observers believe Finland and Sweden would qualify for fast-track entry into NATO without lengthy negotiations and membership could be a reality within months.
LVIV, Ukraine — As Russian forces advance on strategic points in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities on Thursday called on compatriots to launch a guerrilla war against Russian forces.
In a video message posted online, Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich urged men to cut down trees and destroy rear columns of Russian troops.
“We urge people to begin providing total popular resistance to the enemy in the occupied territories,” Arestovich said.
“The weak side of the Russian army is the rear - if we burn them now and block the rear, the war will stop in a matter of days,” he said.
Arestovich said that such tactics are already being used in Konotop in northeast Ukraine and Melitopol near the Azov Sea, which were captured by Russian troops.
Even some Russians are incredibly brave, despite the brutality of Vladimir Putin.
And in Moscow, the regional office of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia has been fielding 2,000 calls a day since last Thursday.
“The parents’ first question is: What happened to my child?” said Aleksandr Latynin, a senior committee official. “Is he alive?”
Seizing on the worries of Russian families, Ukraine has pushed to publicize the fact that many young Russian soldiers were dying or being taken prisoner — a reality that the Russian military did not acknowledge until Sunday, the fourth day of the war. Ukrainian government agencies and volunteers have published videos of disoriented Russian prisoners of war saying they had no idea they were about to be part of an invasion until just before it began, and photographs and footage showed the bodies of Russian soldiers strewn on streets and fields.
The videos are reaching some Russians directly. Yevgeniya A. Ivanova, for instance, identified a friend of hers, Viktor A. Golubev, who appeared in one of the videos. In it, Mr. Golubev said he “feels guilty for his wrong actions” on Ukrainian soil and calls on President Vladimir V. Putin “to find a compromise to avoid war.”
To some Russians, the toll in human lives is reason enough to oppose the war, and OVD-Info, an activist group that tallies arrests, has counted at least 7,359 Russians detained during seven days of protests in scores of cities across the country.
“It’s the third decade of the 21st century, and we are watching news about people burning in tanks and bombed-out buildings,” Aleksei A. Navalny, the opposition leader, wrote in a social media post from prison on Wednesday, calling on Russians to continue to rally despite the withering police crackdown. “Let’s not ‘be against war.’ Let’s fight against war.”
The filing represents the most comprehensive look yet at the findings of the Jan. 6 committee, which is investigating the violent insurrection of Trump’s supporters in an effort to ensure that nothing like it happens again. While the panel can’t pursue criminal charges, members want to provide the public a thorough account of the attack, in which hundreds of people brutally beat police, pushed through windows and doors and interrupted the certification of Biden’s win.
So far, lawmakers and investigators have interviewed hundreds of people, including members of Trump’s family and his chief of staff as well as his allies in the seven swing states where the former president tried and failed to prove he won. The panel has also sought out information from members of Congress and subpoenaed records and testimony from top social media platforms they believe had a hand in the spreading of election misinformation.
The committee is expected to fully release its findings in a lengthy report or series of reports later this year, ahead of the midterm elections. The panel is also planning days or weeks of hearings starting in April with some of the witnesses who testified.
In other transcripts released as part of the filing, former senior Justice Department official Richard Donoghue described trying to convince Trump that claims of election fraud were pure fiction. “I told the President myself that several times, in several conversations, that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in a suitcase and run through the machines several times, it was not true, that we had looked at it, we looked at the video, we interviewed the witnesses, and it was not true.”
At one point, Donoghue said, he had to reassure Trump that the Justice Department had investigated a report that someone has transported a tractor-trailer full of ballots from New York to Pennsylvania. The department found no evidence to support the allegations, Donoghue said.
The transcripts also shed colorful detail on a contentious Jan. 3, 2021, meeting at which Trump contemplated replacing his acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, with an assistant who promised to get to the bottom of the president’s bogus claims of election fraud.
"Though Russia is facing a tougher resistance than expected, as well as logistical setbacks during the first week of its military offensive in Ukraine, U.S. and European officials warn that the darkest days of the invasion lie ahead,” NBC News reports.
“As the Biden administration prepares for the worst to unfold in Ukraine in the coming days and weeks, it is internally discussing possible sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.”
23 minutes ago Biden admin. requests $10 billion in humanitarian, lethal aid for Ukraine The White House requested $10 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, part of a larger $32.5 billion emergency funding request. "This request identifies an immediate need for $10.0 billion in additional humanitarian, security, and economic assistance for Ukraine and Central European partners due to Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion," Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelos, D-Calif. "It also outlines a number of authorities needed to provide maximum flexibility in supporting Ukraine, our European allies and partners, and other emergent global needs." The breakdown in funding would provide $4.8 billion to the Department of Defense, including $1.8 billion to support U.S. military units in Europe supporting the NATO Response Force and the U.S. European Command, $5 billion for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1.8 billion to "support continuity of government and the resilience of the Ukrainian people, as well as emergent needs in the region." Young suggested that more aid could be needed in the coming weeks as the situation in Ukraine continues. "Given the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine, I anticipate that additional needs may arise over time," Young wrote. "This funding request is based on the administration's best information on resource requirements at this time, and we will remain in touch with the Congress in the coming weeks and months as we assess resource requirements beyond these immediate needs."
A senior Western intelligence official said Russia seems to have realized that its initial approach was misguided and is changing its tactics. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby seemed to echo that sentiment Wednesday, saying Russian forces are regrouping and reassessing their strategy.
“The violence level will go up, the numbers of refugees will go up, the numbers of civilian casualties and civilian dead will go up,” the Western intelligence official predicted. “The cruel military math of this will eventually come to bear absent some intervention, absent some fundamental change in the dynamic.”
Officials expect Russia to topple the Ukrainian government and they predict a civil and armed resistance will take hold.
Ed Ferguson, British minister counsellor of defense, said that once Putin takes over parts of Ukraine, “I think he will have an insurgency on his hands.”
The Biden administration has vowed to escalate sanctions against Russia as Putin escalates military action in Ukraine, and has steadily done so over the past week.
“Russia spent seven years building a financial ‘fortress’ that could help it withstand the impact of sanctions imposed by the West — and the keystone was $630 billion in central bank foreign exchange reserves,” Axios reports.
“Presumably, Russia didn’t expect the G7 nations to go so far as to freeze those reserves — which they did this week — a move nearly unprecedented in scope.”
The Economist: Russia’s attempt to sanction-proof its economy has been in vain.
Russian businessman put $1m bounty on Putin’s head, calling for military officers to arrest him as a war criminal
Source: yahoo.com
3 March 2022 8:34am
Russian investor and TV personality Alex Konanykhin is offering a $1 million bounty to anyone who captures Russian President Vladimir Putin.Courtesy of Alex Konanykhin
A Russian investor has put a $1 million bounty on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s head, asking for Russian military officers to arrest Putin as a war criminal.
“I promise to pay $1,000,000 to the officer(s) who, complying with their constitutional duty, arrest(s) Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws,” said crypto investor and California-based businessman Alex Konanykhin in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Konanykhin claimed that Putin had violated the Russian constitution by “eliminating free elections” and “murdering his opponents.”
“As an ethnic Russian and a Russia citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia. I will continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to withstand the onslaught of Putin’s Orda,” Konanykhin said, using the Russian word for “horde.”
Putin initiated the call with Macron, the source said, describing it as "not-so-friendly."
Putin balked at Macron's concerns, the source added, and said the Russian leader was attempting to "maintain his justifications for the invasion on Ukraine" and that if "Ukrainians did not accept the conditions laid out in a diplomatic path demanded by the Russians, then they would obtain its goal by military force."
The source added: "Putin's goal is to take control of all of Ukraine."
The Kremlin's version of the phone call described the conversation as a "frank exchange," and that Putin disputed "many of the points" Macron raised regarding Russia's reasons for its "special operation."
“President Joe Biden is poised to impose sanctions on a number of Russian oligarchs and their families on Thursday, as the U.S. and its allies seek to exert further pressure on the wealthy businessmen around President Vladimir Putin in response to the invasion of Ukraine,” Bloomberg reports.
“The sanctions will be in keeping with measures the European Union imposed on Feb. 28… But the U.S. restrictions will be broader, prohibiting the tycoons’ travel to the U.S. and also targeting their families to prevent them from transferring assets to spouses or children, a tactic that’s been used in the past to evade sanctions.”
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its eighth day Thursday, the mayor of Kherson said the strategic port city in Ukraine's south had been "captured" by Russian forces.
The apparent capture of Kherson, situated on the Dnieper River, marks the first major city to fall into Russian hands as Ukrainians continue to defend key hubs across their country.
As Russia intensifies its offensive, its focus has remained on a number of strategic cities, including the capital, Kyiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and another key port city, Mariupol.
A second round of negotiations was expected to take place Thursday, days after initial talks came to an end without any signs of progress. Already, as many as 1 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees said late Wednesday.
President of Ukraine gives Biden a shot. Ehen asked about his call this week with biden, he said it's a pity that U.S. assistance didn't begin until after 5he war began.
So here's biden, who had been telling the world thst Russia was going to attack. And yet, didn't left a finger about it until after the fact. This is clear the same group that botched the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Reply to 10:09 China certainly played Russia's game to a degree, but it is important to point out that China has since then been giving Russia far less suppport in its invasion of Ukraine than Russia had hoped for. China keeps suggesting that Russia and Ukraine should settle this through talks, and that is NOT what Russia wants to be hearing at this point. The Chinese see that Putin has greatly miscalculated and do not want his pariah status to be rubbing off on them.
If Biden had urged an attack against Russia while the Russians were claiming they were not going to attack, they would have used that as an excuse to attack.
Instead, Biden not only accused them of lying, and kept on accusing them of that, but revealed they were planning to use a false flag excuse for attacking.
So when they did attack, they were robbed of a convincing excuse, and the world was even more united against them than they would have been otherwise.
Over the past 22 years Russia has fallen prey to a demented, corrupt and totalitarian regime, one we have in many ways facilitated. But it is a great country, one I have loved deeply, and one that has produced wonderful, humane, just men and women. It deserves better than this clique of thieves looting its wealth under the cover of illusory imperial fantasies, and ravaging its neighbors to maintain their grip on total power. Russia deserves freedom, the same freedom Ukraine has painfully obtained over the past three decades. A ceasefire in Ukraine is a vital, urgent first step, and a full Russian withdrawal a second one. But after that, Putin must go.
Myballs said... President of Ukraine gives Biden a shot. Ehen asked about his call this week with biden, he said it's a pity that U.S. assistance didn't begin until after 5he war began.
So here's Biden, who had been telling the world thst Russia was going to attack. And yet, didn't left a finger about it until after the fact. This is clear the same group that botched the Afghanistan withdrawal.
As you said Biden did not help Ukraine build up its defenses. And he shared with China that we had top-secret access to Russia's communication channels. Of course we have had illegal back-door communications and possibly treasonous activities by these same US military officers with China before. But this is really inexcusable.
China played this in a way that strengthened China and hurt the US by sharing this with Russia. China wants to be the world power so a weaker US and Russia is very beneficial to them. Guess what this does for future intelligence gathering.
The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol dropped a bomb yesterday in a federal court filing saying they had evidence that Donald Trump and his allies may have conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
It’s very big news, but there are some caveats:
There’s no guarantee Congress will ultimately make a criminal referral to the Justice Department.There’s no guarantee the Justice Department will present the case to a grand jury.There’s no guarantee the grand jury will indict Trump.
Nonetheless, as former acting solicitor general Neil Katyal pointed out last night, the House is accusing a former president — in a federal court filing — of committing felonies.
This isn’t loose talk, it is a solemn court document, subject to all sorts of sanctions for misrepresentations, and backed by evidence they have uncovered.
It’s worth noting that no former U.S. president has ever been charged with a crime.
As a legal matter, we’re still a long way from seeing Trump on trial in a federal court. Trump is a master at delaying legal proceedings.
But as a political matter, this is starting to get interesting.
The Select Committee plans public hearings to begin in April, with an interim report expected by June. The select committee’s final report would come later in the fall, but before the midterm elections.
That guarantees major pushback by Trump and his Republican allies. It will put GOP lawmakers who voted against the formation of the House committee on the defensive.
And no matter which party controls Congress after the midterms, the ball will likely be passed to Attorney General Merrick Garland who will need to decide what to do before the 2024 presidential election — when Trump himself may be a candidate.
Will he do the first thing in history and indict a former President?
War brought Vladimir Putin to power in 1999. Now, it must bring him down Jonathan Littell
Putin believed he could invade Ukraine because everything we failed to do over the last 22 years taught him that we are weak
‘Putin might be a tactical genius, but he is incapable of thinking strategically.’
Twenty-two years ago, a vicious war brought Vladimir Putin to power. Ever since, war has remained one of his main tools, which he has used without flinching throughout his reign. Vladimir Putin exists thanks to war, has thrived through war. Let us now hope that a war will finally bring him down.
In August 1999, a then-unknown Vladimir Putin was named prime minister when his predecessor refused to condone a full reinvasion of Chechnya. Putin, however, was ready, and in return for their unconditional support he granted the military a free rein, allowing them to avenge their humiliating 1996 defeat in blood and fire. On the night of 31 December, an ageing and broken Boris Yeltsin stepped down, handing the presidency like a gift to the newcomer. In March 2000, after famously promising to “grease the terrorists even in the outhouse”, Putin was triumphally elected president. With the exception of his four years as prime minister (2008-2012), he has ruled Russia ever since.
I returned to Chechnya as an aid worker when the second war began. In February 2000, I had dinner with Sergey Kovalev, the great Russian human rights defender, and I asked him the question on everyone’s lips: who was this new unknown president? Who was Putin? I still remember Kovalev’s answer: “You want to know who Vladimir Putin is, young man? Vladimir Putin is a lieutenant colonel of the KGB. And do you know what a lieutenant colonel of the KGB is? Absolutely nothing.” What Kovalev meant was that a man who had never even made full colonel was simply a small-minded operative, incapable of thinking ahead more than a move or two. And while Putin, over his 22 years in power, has grown immensely in stature and experience, I still believe the late Kovalev was fundamentally right.
Putin proved brilliant at exploiting the weakness and divisions of the west Tactically, however, Putin soon proved brilliant, especially at exploiting the weakness and divisions of the west. It took him years to crush the Chechens and install a puppet regime there, but he succeeded. In 2008, four months after Nato promised a path to accession for Ukraine and Georgia, he gathered his armies for “maneuvers” at the Georgian border and invaded the country in five days, recognizing the independence of two breakaway “republics”. The western democracies mumbled protests, and did practically nothing.
In 2014, when the Ukrainian people, after a bloody revolution, overthrew their pro-Russian president, who had turned his back on Europe fully to align himself with Moscow, Putin swiftly invaded and annexed Crimea, the first overt landgrab in Europe since the second world war. When our leaders, shocked and bewildered, responded with sanctions, he upped the ante and provoked uprisings in Donbas, a Russian-speaking area of Ukraine, using his forces covertly to crush a weak Ukrainian army and carve out two new breakaway “republics”, where a low-level war has simmered ever since.
Thus he began what the French would call his fuite en avant, his “flight forward”. At every step, the west condemned and attempted to punish him, with mild and ineffective measures, in the vain hope of discouraging him. And at every step, he doubled down, and went further.
Growing up in postwar Leningrad clearly taught him a lesson: if you are the smaller boy, hit first, hit hard and keep hitting Putin is a small man, physically, and growing up in postwar Leningrad must have been tough for him. It clearly taught him a lesson: if you are the smaller boy, hit first, hit hard and keep hitting. And the bigger boys will learn to fear you, and will back off. It is a lesson he has taken to heart. The US’s military budget for 2021 was about $750bn, Europe’s combined budget $200bn, and Russia’s about $65bn. Yet he still scares us a lot more than we scare him. It’s the advantage of fighting like a cornered rat, rather than like a pudgy boy gone soft on a diet of Coca-Cola, Instagram and 80 years of peace in Europe.
Putin must have rejoiced when the west, eager to freeze the active conflict in Donbas, quietly allowed Crimea off the discussion table, effectively conceding the illegal annexation to Russia. He saw that while sanctions hurt, they didn’t bite deep, and would allow him to continue building his military and extending his power. He saw that Germany, the greatest economic power in Europe, was unwilling to wean itself off his gas and his markets. He saw that he could buy European politicians, including former German and French prime ministers, and install them on the boards of his state-controlled companies. He saw that even the countries that nominally opposed his moves still kept repeating the mantras of “diplomacy”, “reset”, “the need to normalize relations”. He saw that each time he pushed, the west would roll over and then come fawning, hoping for an ever-elusive “deal”: Barack Obama, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump – the list is long.
China certainly played Russia's game to a degree, but it is important to point out that China has since then been giving Russia far less suppport in its invasion of Ukraine than Russia had hoped for. China keeps suggesting that Russia and Ukraine should settle this through talks, and that is NOT what Russia wants to be hearing at this point. The Chinese see that Putin has greatly miscalculated and do not want his pariah status to be rubbing off on them.
Just to be clear here Reverend...
You have faith that Xi Jinping is being honest with his public statements about all of this?
Each time he pushed, the west would roll over and then come fawning, hoping for an ever-elusive ‘deal’
Putin began murdering his opponents, at home and abroad. When it happened, we squeaked, but it never went further. When Obama, in 2013, callously ignored his own “red line” in Syria, refusing to intervene after Bashar al-Assad’s poison gassing of a civilian neighborhood in Damascus, Putin paid attention. In 2015, he sent his own forces into Syria, developing his naval base in Tartus and gaining a new air base in Khmeimin. Over the next seven years, he used Syria as a testing ground for his military, granting invaluable field experience to his officer corps and honing their tactics, coordination and equipment, all the while bombing and slaughtering thousands of Syrians, and helping Assad to regain control of large swaths of the country.
In January 2018, he began confronting western powers directly in the Central African Republic, sending his Wagner mercenaries there. The same process is now under way in Mali, where the military junta, with Russian support, has just forced the French anti-Isis mission out of the country. Russia is also actively involved in Libya, foiling western attempts to bring peace to the country, and deploying forces along the southern flank of the Mediterranean, in a position to directly threaten European interests. Every time, we protested, flailed, and did exactly nothing. And every time, he took good note.
Ukraine represents the moment when he finally decided to put his cards on the table. He clearly believes he is strong enough to openly defy the west by launching the first land war in Europe since 1945. And he believes it because everything we have done, or rather failed to do over the last 22 years, has taught him that we are weak.
Putin might be a tactical genius, but he is incapable of thinking strategically. Our leaders have refused to truly understand him, but he has also had no interest in understanding us. Completely isolated for the past two years because of Covid, he seems to have become increasingly paranoid and imbued with his own pan-Slavic, neo-imperialist and Orthodox ideology, originally a wholly artificial creation designed to give a thin veneer of legitimacy to his corrupt regime.
He seems to have truly swallowed his own propaganda when it comes to the Ukrainians. Did he believe they would welcome their Russian “liberators”? That they would just surrender? If he did, he was very wrong. The Ukrainians are fighting, and though outnumbered and outgunned, they are fighting hard. Schoolteachers, office clerks, housewives, artists, students, DJs and drag queens are taking up guns and going out to shoot Russian soldiers, many of whom are mere children who have no idea what they are doing there. Ukraine is not giving up an inch of ground, and it seems Putin will not be able to take their cities without leveling them, as he once leveled Grozny and Aleppo. And do not think that just because Kyiv is a “European” city, Putin will shrink from leveling it. Bombing has already started.
After the initial shock, the western democracies – finally! – seem to have understood the existential threat that Putin poses to the postwar world order, to Europe, and to our “way of life” which he so despises. Crushing sanctions are being put into place, no matter what the economic cost to us. Arms are pouring into Ukraine.
Germany seems to have realized overnight that it can no longer continue to depend on the kindness of others for its security, and that it needs an army of its own, a real and functional one. Russia is being massively isolated on the international level, and its economy and capacities will be severely diminished.
But this is not enough. As long as Putin remains in power, he will continue to double down, to push further, and to do as much harm as he can. Because he hates the west, and because his power is entirely based on violence: not just the threat, but the systematic use of it. It is the only way he knows how to behave. Can we really believe his nuclear threat is just a bluff? Can we afford to? As long as he continues to rule Russia, no one will be safe. No one.
You have faith that Xi Jinping is being honest with his public statements about all of this?
Just to be clear here, Ch...
You think Putin is happy with China's repeated suggestion that even now, after he has massively committed troops, the matter should be settled by negotiating?
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Thursday she supports banning oil import from Russia in response to Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Axios reports.
Said Pelosi: “I’m all for that. Ban it. Ban the oil coming from Russia.”
BWWAAAAAAAAA!!!! You are a horses ass goat fucker....Even for a KU graduate, you are stunningly stupid... Sorry sport, even a dumb fuck like you should realize why prices are soaring......idiiot
You think Putin is happy with China's repeated suggestion that even now, after he has massively committed troops, the matter should be settled by negotiating?
This is just my humble opinion...
But I don't trust what either man says and ultimately I still think they are in cahoots. After all, Xi asked Putin to hold off the invasion till after the Olympics, and then Putin did exactly that.
They may be frenemies or whatever, but ultimately I think they have an alliance that neither side will completely admit to. I think they are both devious snakes and to trust either one at this point is a fool's errand.
It's not a matter of "trusting" either Putin or Xi. Each is first and foremost self interested, in the sense of the self interest of their nation, as they understand it.
But Putin must see that Xi is holding back from saying what Putin would prefer for him to be saying.
I made my last comment before seeing Ch's. In respectful reply to him:
It's not a question of "trusting" either of them. Both are self interested in the sense of what they perceive as their nations' self interests, but it cannot please Putin that Xi is now holding back from saying just what Putin would prefer for him to be saying.
In respectful reply to him: It is not a question of "trusting" either of them. Both will be self interested in the sense of how they perceive their nations' interests. But it cannot please Putin that Xi is now holding back from saying what Putin would prefer to hear.
They want to unite a fascist alliance to take down the western alliance, NATO and the alliance with Australia and the United States etc.
They will never negotiate any agreement, because they want to dismantle the current global alliances.
Fortunately, most Republicans are not isolationists.
President Biden will be in charge for at least two and three quarters of years. And despite being a strong character like Trump and Putin, he has been doing fairly well.
The Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia is still working with the exception, despite being accused of a murder.
DUBAI, March 3 (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he does not care whether U.S. President Joe Biden misunderstood things about him, saying Biden should be focusing on America's interests, in an interview with The Atlantic monthly published on Thursday.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the long-standing strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and Washington has come under strain over Riyadh's human rights record, especially with respect to the Yemen war and the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Prince Mohammed, the de facto Saudi ruler widely known as MbS, suggested in separate but related remarks carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA that Riyadh could choose to reduce investments in the United States,
"Simply, I do not care,” the crown prince said when asked by The Atlantic whether Biden misunderstood things about him. He said it was up to Biden "to think about the interests of America".
“We don’t have the right to lecture you in America,” he added. “The same goes the other way.”
The Biden administration released a U.S. intelligence report implicating the crown prince in the murder of Khashoggi, which MbS denies, and pressed for the release of political prisoners.
The crown prince told The Atlantic that he felt his own rights had been violated by the accusations against him in the brutal murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, who was killed inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.
"I feel that human rights law wasn’t applied to me...Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that any person is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Khashoggi's murder tarnished the reformist image that the crown prince had been cultivating in the West, which largely condemned him. MbS has wanted to return the focus to social and economic reforms that he has pushed through to open up Saudi Arabia and diversify its oil-dependent economy.
They do not appear to include wide political reform.
Asked whether Saudi rule could transform into a constitutional monarchy, MbS said no. “Saudi Arabia is based on pure monarchy,” he said.
Prince Mohammed also told The Atlantic that Riyadh's objective was to maintain and strengthen its "long, historical" relationship with America. He said Saudi investments in the United States amounted to $800 billion.
"In the same way we have the possibility of boosting our interests, we have the possibility of reducing them," SPA quoted him as saying.
While the crown prince enjoyed close relations with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, Biden has taken a tougher stance with the Gulf Arab powerhouseand has so far chosen only to speak with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, not MbS.
The Biden administration has also prioritised an end to the Yemen war, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for seven years. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
But it cannot please Putin that Xi is now holding back from saying what Putin would prefer to hear.
I think this is what is called "projection" here a bit.
You cannot think like you think or think like American liberals think.
While American liberals seem to care a lot about what people say or whether people like them or whether people support their ideas... Most of the rest of the world doesn't give a bigger rat's ass.
So unless Xi and China actually "does something tangible" to undercut what Putin is doing, Putin is literally not going to lose a minute's sleep over what Xi says publically.
Bottom line is that leaders like Xi and Putin lie and don't care if anyone actually believes the lies. They just lie for the sake of pretense. It is most likely the case that Xi says one thing privately to Putin and then turns around and says something entirely different to the rest of the world.
Plus the administration is using every tool post to take down Putin
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Andrew Adams, a veteran federal prosecutor in New York City who has experience handling cases involving Russian organized crime groups, will lead the Justice Department's new task force aimed at Russian oligarchs, Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday.
"Together with our federal and international partners, we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war against Ukraine," Garland said in remarks to the American Bar Institute's National Institute on White Collar Crime.
Garland's announcement came one day after he unveiled the details about the new task force known as "KleptoCapture," tasked with investigating and prosecuting sanctions violations. It will also seek civil and criminal forfeitures to seize assets obtained through unlawful conduct. read more
The task force name references the word "kleptocracy": a society whose leaders misuse their powers to accumulate wealth at the expense of those they govern.
The task force, to be run out of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco's office, will be headed by Adams, who joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in 2013 and has served as lead prosecutor on several prominent asset forfeiture and organized crime cases.
Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was killed in fighting in Ukraine earlier this week,” the AP reports.
Turkish Inflation Hits 54%
“Turkish prices rose at their fastest rate in 20 years in February as the lira tumbled and food and energy prices surged, stirring discontent about the state of the economy,” the Financial Times reports.
“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who calls himself an ‘enemy of interest rates,’ triggered a collapse in the currency at the end of last year when he ordered the central bank to aggressively cut borrowing costs despite soaring inflation.”
Europe’s Sleeping Giant Awakens
The Atlantic: “Scholz announced that Germany would *end its dependence on Russian gas, *spend an additional 100 billion euros on its military, *and deliver hundreds of anti-tank weapons and Stinger missiles to Ukraine in order to help its overmatched military counter Russia’s all-out assault.
"Germany may also be forced to extend the life of its nuclear plants to fill the energy gap created by the halt to Russian gas supplies.
“Each one of these decisions represents something of an earthquake.
"Taken together, they are a political cataclysm that no one saw coming—not from a novice chancellor known for his caution, not from a coalition of German parties with pacifist roots, and certainly not from a government led by the Social Democrats, with their history of close ties to Russia.”
WOW!
Nuclear Chief Says Iran Trip May ‘Pave Way’ for Deal
WOW!
The head of the world’s atomic watchdog said his trip on Saturday to Tehran could “pave the way” to reviving the Iranian nuclear deal, an agreement that would return the country’s oil exports to global markets, Bloomberg reports.
Wall Street Journal: “Iranian and U.S. officials are entering a crucial week of negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, with significant differences remaining on several key issues and new concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could complicate the talks.”
Not understanding your illogical word salad. But as you just stated only yesterday. We should never listen to anyone without a college degree.
My point to the Reverend is a simple problem where liberals seems obsessed with words and opinions, whereas people like Putin and Xi will lie to the world and not give a bigger damned if anyone believes them or hates them for lying.
Like the concept being offered that Biden could "reset" his Presidency with a speech? As if a "Speech" is going to lower inflation, lower crime rates, end Covid, or stop a war in Ukraine.
People like Putin will not react to opinions, to insults, to people saying bad things about him. He will react to tangible actions that are being taken. As long as China literally stays out of the fray, Putin doesn't care what Xi might "say".
This is just a fundamental difference in how certain types of people think and what matters to them. Probably why you keep insisting that a war in Ukraine is about American election politics and why you keep "projecting" your own issues about the election onto others.
Most of us don't care about the election as it pertains to the war in Ukraine, nor do most of us probably believe that the outcome there is goign to matter. We needed to stop it - we didn't. That is a failure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to carry on his war in Ukraine against “neo-Nazis” in a meeting with his Security Council, the Washington Post reports.
As reports indicated Russian military difficulties in advancing and taking over cities, Putin said the invasion was “going according to plan and in full compliance with the timetable. All tasks set during the special operation in Ukraine are being accomplished successfully.”
THIRD Macron Convinced ‘Worst Is Yet to Come’
A 90-minute conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to deliver a diplomatic breakthrough, and a senior French official said it left Macron convinced that “the worst is yet to come” and that Putin aims to take control of all of Ukraine, the Washington Post reports.
New York Times: “The call, which the French presidency said came at the Kremlin’s request, was the third discussion between the two leaders since the start of the war.”
AND YET-- FOURTH Russian Military Convoy Remains Stalled
“Russian operations in northern Ukraine appeared to be stalled for a third day as the Kremlin sent more troops into the country, adding that Ukrainian forces may be attacking a convoy of Russian forces attempting to take the major northern cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv,” the New York Times reports.
Photos of Captured and Killed Russians Added to Google Maps 2:15 pm EST
“Google Maps users are uploading dozens of photos of destruction, injured civilians, and captured Russian soldiers in Ukraine to the Google Maps listings of popular locations within Russia’s major cities,” Vice News reports.
“Russian president Vladimir Putin has blocked or limited access to foreign news coverage of the war in Ukraine, including Facebook and Twitter, some of the few places people within Russia that citizens could get non-state sanctioned news.
"Google Maps allows users to upload photos of places—usually as part of a review of the spot—but people are using this feature to get images from Ukraine into Russia.”
Washington Post: “A besieged Ukraine has adopted a gruesome tactic in hopes of stoking anti-government rage inside Russia: posting photos and videos of captured and killed Russian soldiers on the Web for anyone to see.”
Trump Enraged When Told Fraud Claims Were ‘Bullshit’
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr told NBC News that then-President Donald Trump became furious after Barr told him there was no evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Said Barr: “I told him that all this stuff was bullshit… about election fraud. And, you know, it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was.”
He told Trump: “I understand you’re upset with me. And I’m perfectly happy to tender my resignation.”
Trump then slapped his desk and said: “Accepted. Accepted.’ And then — boom. He slapped it again. ‘Accepted. Go home. Don’t go back to your office. Go home. You’re done.'”
LOL If Trump had listened to Barr, he might be in less trouble today.
I believe exactly the opposite because you hate liberals.
insisting that a war in Ukraine is about American election politics and why you keep "projecting" your own issues about the election onto others.
Most of us don't care about the election as it pertains to the war in Ukraine, nor do most of us probably believe that the outcome there is goign to matter. We needed to stop it - we didn't. That is a failure.
I'm not surprised. But no knock warrants should not be used
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky jury has cleared a former police officer who fired shots during the 2020 drug raid that ended in Breonna Taylor’s death. The jury on Thursday found Brett Hankison not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots that ripped into a neighboring apartment.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The fate of the only police officer charged in the raid that ended with Breonna Taylor's death was in the hands of a jury Thursday after a prosecutor said he couldn’t have seen a shooter before firing wildly into her apartment and endangering her neighbors.
Brett Hankison has been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, punishable by one to five years in prison, for firing shots during the raid that went through a sliding-glass side door and a window of Taylor's apartment and into a unit next door where a couple and small child lived.
Question, will u cut of Putin Paychecks from the USA for his Oil?
""As you know, on this issue, for example, we applaud Germany in terms of what it has done as it relates to Nord Stream 2," Harris said. "As it relates to what we need to do domestically as well as what we need to do in terms of this issue generally, we have, as the president said, to reevaluate what we’re doing in terms of strategic oil reserves here in the United States to make sure that it will not have an impact, or we can mitigate the impact on the American consumer."
“Right now, I frankly do not see how anybody can get through to Putin,” said Vaira Vike-Freiberga, a former president of Latvia who met with her Russian counterpart repeatedly. “He is so dead set on rewriting history ... he has invented a parallel universe in which he lives mentally.”.. and Trump and Ch
I care about the people of Ukraine and other countries
Really?
Because if you actually cared about Ukraine and not American politics you would agree with the vast majority of the world who believes Biden screwed the pooch and you would be angry because of it.
But instead of having the obvious reaction of someone who truly cared about Ukrainians, you instead defend Biden and his lack of action, make excuses, and even manage to pull Trump into the fray.
100 comments:
“The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power,” the committee’s chair and vice chair, Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement Wednesday.
Trump and Eastman have not been charged with any crime.
Both pictures show evidence of illegal acts, one a war crime, and the other part of something also very serious, to wit:
“[The select committee] said they had accumulated evidence demonstrating that Mr. Trump, the conservative lawyer John Eastman, and other allies could potentially be charged with criminal violations including obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the American people.”
Hear, hear!
Oh, and another thing:
For some reason, Ch can never simply stick to facts.
I have said, not that Ukraine "is winning" the war, but that I would like to think that Ukraine could win this war, but have my doubts and my worries about that.
I have also said I am "rooting" for that.
The Select Committee's members have previously said they will consider passing along evidence of criminal conduct by Trump to the U.S. Justice Department. Such a move, known as a criminal referral, would be largely symbolic but would increase political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge the former president and would thrust his department into a political firestorm.
But evidence and information available to the Committee establishes a good-faith belief that Mr. Trump and others may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts," the committee said in a court filing.
There’s still some stragglers like PBS to come in, but right now it looks like Joe Biden ’s first State of the Union speech was watched by about 37 million people last night.
That figure comes from the addition of data from Univision (1.4 million), Newsmax (462,00), CNBC (285,000) and Telemundo (1.2 million) to slightly tweaked results of earlier today from the broadcasters and the cable newsers. At this rate, POTUS’ SOTU looks certain to end up with over 38 million viewers when all the outlets are accounted for.
If the final numbers for Biden’s speech show it in the 37 million range, it will comparable to the viewership for President Donald Trump ’s State of the Union address in 2020, the last of his term. That address, which drew 37.2 million, stood out for his presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s tearing up of a copy of Trump’s speech.
PREVIOUSLY, 12:01 PM: In his successful 2020 White House bid, candidate Joe Biden campaigned as a unifier trying to save the soul of America. Last night, in his first State of the Union address, the 46th President of the United States doubled down on that unity theme.
The G-7 (Group of Seven) major economies have imposed unprecedented punitive sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia along with widespread measures by the west against the country’s oligarchs and officials.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday told a French radio station that the aim of the latest round of sanctions was to “cause the collapse of the Russian economy.”
LONDON — Western nations have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a raft of sanctions intended to cripple the country’s economy, and economists suggest it could work.
The G-7 (Group of Seven) major economies have imposed unprecedented punitive sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia along with widespread measures by the West against the country’s oligarchs and officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What I find most distressing about Lil Schitty's false comparison is his party had 3 members vote against Ukraine support.....Even more telling are the cherry picked fotos he posted to support his stupid tenet!!!! One of his fellow rioters awaiting sentencing took his life in jail....sad but another one biting the dust is a good start!!! He still can't admit trump lost is like Putin thinking Ukraine would fall to its knees and welcome his army!!!!!!! Sure seems to be a common trait of these GOP losers.....money and massive egos as evidenced by a model child wife!!!!!!! Sad that he thinks life revolves around his biased views while no others exist!!!!!!!!
The Reality of War Is Dawning Across Russia
New York Times: “On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry for the first time announced a death toll for Russian servicemen in the conflict. While casualty figures in wartime are notoriously unreliable — and Ukraine has put the total of Russian dead in the thousands — the 498 Moscow acknowledged in the seven days of fighting is the largest in any of its military operations since the war in Chechnya, which marked the beginning of President Vladimir Putin’s tenure in 1999.
“Russians who long avoided engaging with politics are now realizing that their country is fighting a deadly conflict, even as the Kremlin gets ever more aggressive in trying to shape the narrative. Its slow-motion crackdown on freedoms has become a whirlwind of repression of late, as the last vestiges of a free press faced extinction.”
Lavrov Says Russia Will Continue War ‘Until the End’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he believed some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia and that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until “the end,” Reuters reports.
Times of London: “Russian forces shelled schools, hospitals and homes across Ukraine yesterday as President Putin’s invasion threatened to escalate into a long war of attrition.”
An estimated 38.2 million people tuned in to watch coverage of the State of the Union address, Nielsen reports.
Well one thing Putin has done which no other world leader has, he has United the EU, the US, all of the Baltic countries, Sweden, Switzerland, and most of the rest of western civilization along with Ukraine. Let’s pray that this unity is not wasted.
Putin may have expanded NATO beyond imagination.
HELSINKI (AP) — Through the Cold War and the decades since, nothing could persuade Finns and Swedes that they would be better off joining NATO — until now.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has profoundly changed Europe’s security outlook, including for Nordic neutrals Finland and Sweden, where support for joining NATO has surged to record levels.
A poll commissioned by Finnish broadcaster YLE this week showed that, for the first time, more than 50% of Finns support joining the Western military alliance. In neighboring Sweden, a similar poll showed those in favor of NATO membership outnumber those against.
“The unthinkable might start to become thinkable,” tweeted former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, a proponent of NATO membership.
Neither country is going to join the alliance overnight. Support for NATO membership rises and falls, and there's no clear majority for joining in their parliaments.
But the signs of change since Russia began its invasion last week are unmistakable.
The attack on Ukraine prompted both Finland and Sweden to break with their policy of not providing arms to countries at war by sending assault rifles and anti-tank weapons to Kyiv. For Sweden, it’s the first time offering military aid since 1939, when it assisted Finland against the Soviet Union.
Apparently sensing a shift among its Nordic neighbors, the Russian Foreign Ministry last week voiced concern about what it described as efforts by the United States and some of its allies to “drag” Finland and Sweden into NATO and warned that Moscow would be forced to take retaliatory measures if they joined the alliance.
The governments of Sweden and Finland retorted that they won’t let Moscow dictate their security policy.
“I want to be extremely clear: It is Sweden that itself and independently decides on our security policy line,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.
Finland has a conflict-ridden history with Russia, with which it shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border. Finns have taken part in dozens of wars against their eastern neighbor, for centuries as part of the Swedish Kingdom, and as an independent nation during the world wars, including two fought with the Soviet Union from 1939-40 and 1941-44.
In the postwar period, however, Finland pursued pragmatic political and economic ties with Moscow, remaining militarily nonaligned and a neutral buffer between East and West.
Sweden has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, choosing a path of peace after centuries of warfare with its neighbors.
Both countries put an end to traditional neutrality by joining the European Union in 1995 and deepening cooperation with NATO. However, a majority of people in both countries remained firmly against full membership in the alliance — until Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The YLE poll showed 53% were in favor of Finland joining NATO, with only 28% against. The poll had an error margin of 2.5 percentage points and included 1,382 respondents interviewed Feb. 23 to 25. Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24.
“It’s a very significant shift,” said senior researcher Matti Pesu from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. “We’ve had a situation in the past 25-30 years where Finns’ opinions on NATO have been very stable. It seems to now to have changed completely.”
While noting that it’s not possible to draw conclusions from a single poll, Pesu said no similar shift in public opinion occurred after Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia and the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, “so this is an exception.”
In Sweden, a late February poll commissioned by the Swedish public broadcaster SVT found 41% of Swedes supported NATO membership and 35% opposed it, marking the first time that those in favor exceeded those against.
The Nordic duo, important partners for NATO in the Baltic Sea area where Russia has substantially increased its military maneuvers in the past decade, has strongly stressed that it is up to them alone to decide whether to join the military alliance.
In his New Year’s speech, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto pointedly said that “Finland’s room to maneuver and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and of applying for NATO membership, should we ourselves so decide.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted last week that for Helsinki and Stockholm “this is a question of self-determination and the sovereign right to choose your own path and then potentially in the future, also to apply for NATO.”
There are no set criteria for joining NATO, but aspiring candidates must meet certain political and other considerations. Many observers believe Finland and Sweden would qualify for fast-track entry into NATO without lengthy negotiations and membership could be a reality within months.
LIVE UPDATES:Over 1 million refugees flee Ukraine; Russian, Belarusian athletes banned from Paralympic Games
They are unbelievably brave.
LVIV, Ukraine — As Russian forces advance on strategic points in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities on Thursday called on compatriots to launch a guerrilla war against Russian forces.
In a video message posted online, Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich urged men to cut down trees and destroy rear columns of Russian troops.
“We urge people to begin providing total popular resistance to the enemy in the occupied territories,” Arestovich said.
“The weak side of the Russian army is the rear - if we burn them now and block the rear, the war will stop in a matter of days,” he said.
Arestovich said that such tactics are already being used in Konotop in northeast Ukraine and Melitopol near the Azov Sea, which were captured by Russian troops.
Even some Russians are incredibly brave, despite the brutality of Vladimir Putin.
And in Moscow, the regional office of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia has been fielding 2,000 calls a day since last Thursday.
“The parents’ first question is: What happened to my child?” said Aleksandr Latynin, a senior committee official. “Is he alive?”
Seizing on the worries of Russian families, Ukraine has pushed to publicize the fact that many young Russian soldiers were dying or being taken prisoner — a reality that the Russian military did not acknowledge until Sunday, the fourth day of the war. Ukrainian government agencies and volunteers have published videos of disoriented Russian prisoners of war saying they had no idea they were about to be part of an invasion until just before it began, and photographs and footage showed the bodies of Russian soldiers strewn on streets and fields.
The videos are reaching some Russians directly. Yevgeniya A. Ivanova, for instance, identified a friend of hers, Viktor A. Golubev, who appeared in one of the videos. In it, Mr. Golubev said he “feels guilty for his wrong actions” on Ukrainian soil and calls on President Vladimir V. Putin “to find a compromise to avoid war.”
To some Russians, the toll in human lives is reason enough to oppose the war, and OVD-Info, an activist group that tallies arrests, has counted at least 7,359 Russians detained during seven days of protests in scores of cities across the country.
“It’s the third decade of the 21st century, and we are watching news about people burning in tanks and bombed-out buildings,” Aleksei A. Navalny, the opposition leader, wrote in a social media post from prison on Wednesday, calling on Russians to continue to rally despite the withering police crackdown. “Let’s not ‘be against war.’ Let’s fight against war.”
But more entertaining m..
The filing represents the most comprehensive look yet at the findings of the Jan. 6 committee, which is investigating the violent insurrection of Trump’s supporters in an effort to ensure that nothing like it happens again. While the panel can’t pursue criminal charges, members want to provide the public a thorough account of the attack, in which hundreds of people brutally beat police, pushed through windows and doors and interrupted the certification of Biden’s win.
So far, lawmakers and investigators have interviewed hundreds of people, including members of Trump’s family and his chief of staff as well as his allies in the seven swing states where the former president tried and failed to prove he won. The panel has also sought out information from members of Congress and subpoenaed records and testimony from top social media platforms they believe had a hand in the spreading of election misinformation.
The committee is expected to fully release its findings in a lengthy report or series of reports later this year, ahead of the midterm elections. The panel is also planning days or weeks of hearings starting in April with some of the witnesses who testified.
In other transcripts released as part of the filing, former senior Justice Department official Richard Donoghue described trying to convince Trump that claims of election fraud were pure fiction. “I told the President myself that several times, in several conversations, that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in a suitcase and run through the machines several times, it was not true, that we had looked at it, we looked at the video, we interviewed the witnesses, and it was not true.”
At one point, Donoghue said, he had to reassure Trump that the Justice Department had investigated a report that someone has transported a tractor-trailer full of ballots from New York to Pennsylvania. The department found no evidence to support the allegations, Donoghue said.
The transcripts also shed colorful detail on a contentious Jan. 3, 2021, meeting at which Trump contemplated replacing his acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, with an assistant who promised to get to the bottom of the president’s bogus claims of election fraud.
Darkest Days of Ukraine Invasion Lie Ahead
"Though Russia is facing a tougher resistance than expected, as well as logistical setbacks during the first week of its military offensive in Ukraine, U.S. and European officials warn that the darkest days of the invasion lie ahead,” NBC News reports.
“As the Biden administration prepares for the worst to unfold in Ukraine in the coming days and weeks, it is internally discussing possible sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.”
It will pass very quickly.
23 minutes ago
Biden admin. requests $10 billion in humanitarian, lethal aid for Ukraine
The White House requested $10 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, part of a larger $32.5 billion emergency funding request.
"This request identifies an immediate need for $10.0 billion in additional humanitarian, security, and economic assistance for Ukraine and Central European partners due to Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion," Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelos, D-Calif. "It also outlines a number of authorities needed to provide maximum flexibility in supporting Ukraine, our European allies and partners, and other emergent global needs."
The breakdown in funding would provide $4.8 billion to the Department of Defense, including $1.8 billion to support U.S. military units in Europe supporting the NATO Response Force and the U.S. European Command, $5 billion for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1.8 billion to "support continuity of government and the resilience of the Ukrainian people, as well as emergent needs in the region."
Young suggested that more aid could be needed in the coming weeks as the situation in Ukraine continues.
"Given the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine, I anticipate that additional needs may arise over time," Young wrote. "This funding request is based on the administration's best information on resource requirements at this time, and we will remain in touch with the Congress in the coming weeks and months as we assess resource requirements beyond these immediate needs."
I am especially interested in and impressed by what is said in 8:33 above.
A senior Western intelligence official said Russia seems to have realized that its initial approach was misguided and is changing its tactics. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby seemed to echo that sentiment Wednesday, saying Russian forces are regrouping and reassessing their strategy.
“The violence level will go up, the numbers of refugees will go up, the numbers of civilian casualties and civilian dead will go up,” the Western intelligence official predicted. “The cruel military math of this will eventually come to bear absent some intervention, absent some fundamental change in the dynamic.”
Officials expect Russia to topple the Ukrainian government and they predict a civil and armed resistance will take hold.
Ed Ferguson, British minister counsellor of defense, said that once Putin takes over parts of Ukraine, “I think he will have an insurgency on his hands.”
The Biden administration has vowed to escalate sanctions against Russia as Putin escalates military action in Ukraine, and has steadily done so over the past week.
Even some Russians are incredibly brave, despite the brutality of Vladimir Putin.
And in Moscow, the regional office of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia has been fielding 2,000 calls a day since last Thursday.
“The parents’ first question is: What happened to my child?” said Aleksandr Latynin, a senior committee official. “Is he alive?”
https://www.axios.com/ukraine-russia-peace-talks-zelensky-72a5de75-6cad-4780-9686-d28cec86edd8.html
Russia’s Financial Fortress Falters
“Russia spent seven years building a financial ‘fortress’ that could help it withstand the impact of sanctions imposed by the West — and the keystone was $630 billion in central bank foreign exchange reserves,” Axios reports.
“Presumably, Russia didn’t expect the G7 nations to go so far as to freeze those reserves — which they did this week — a move nearly unprecedented in scope.”
The Economist: Russia’s attempt to sanction-proof its economy has been in vain.
International
Russian businessman put $1m bounty on Putin’s head, calling for military officers to arrest him as a war criminal
Source: yahoo.com
3 March 2022 8:34am
Russian investor and TV personality Alex Konanykhin is offering a $1 million bounty to anyone who captures Russian President Vladimir Putin.Courtesy of Alex Konanykhin
A Russian investor has put a $1 million bounty on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s head, asking for Russian military officers to arrest Putin as a war criminal.
“I promise to pay $1,000,000 to the officer(s) who, complying with their constitutional duty, arrest(s) Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws,” said crypto investor and California-based businessman Alex Konanykhin in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Konanykhin claimed that Putin had violated the Russian constitution by “eliminating free elections” and “murdering his opponents.”
“As an ethnic Russian and a Russia citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia. I will continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to withstand the onslaught of Putin’s Orda,” Konanykhin said, using the Russian word for “horde.”
LIVE UPDATES:Over 1 million refugees flee Ukraine; Russian, Belarusian athletes banned from Paralympic Games
Nothing like punishing the disabled...
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/03/the-axis-of-evil-reunites.php
I usually don't agree with him but he is completely correct about the crisis we face
He is an evil pervert
In 90-minute phone call Thursday with President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron warned the Russian leader that "he was committing a serious mistake" by invading Ukraine, and that "his actions would punish his own country," according to an Élysée Presidential Palace source.
Putin initiated the call with Macron, the source said, describing it as "not-so-friendly."
Putin balked at Macron's concerns, the source added, and said the Russian leader was attempting to "maintain his justifications for the invasion on Ukraine" and that if "Ukrainians did not accept the conditions laid out in a diplomatic path demanded by the Russians, then they would obtain its goal by military force."
The source added: "Putin's goal is to take control of all of Ukraine."
The Kremlin's version of the phone call described the conversation as a "frank exchange," and that Putin disputed "many of the points" Macron raised regarding Russia's reasons for its "special operation."
U.S. Readies New Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs
“President Joe Biden is poised to impose sanctions on a number of Russian oligarchs and their families on Thursday, as the U.S. and its allies seek to exert further pressure on the wealthy businessmen around President Vladimir Putin in response to the invasion of Ukraine,” Bloomberg reports.
“The sanctions will be in keeping with measures the European Union imposed on Feb. 28… But the U.S. restrictions will be broader, prohibiting the tycoons’ travel to the U.S. and also targeting their families to prevent them from transferring assets to spouses or children, a tactic that’s been used in the past to evade sanctions.”
Breaking news shit
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its eighth day Thursday, the mayor of Kherson said the strategic port city in Ukraine's south had been "captured" by Russian forces.
The apparent capture of Kherson, situated on the Dnieper River, marks the first major city to fall into Russian hands as Ukrainians continue to defend key hubs across their country.
As Russia intensifies its offensive, its focus has remained on a number of strategic cities, including the capital, Kyiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and another key port city, Mariupol.
A second round of negotiations was expected to take place Thursday, days after initial talks came to an end without any signs of progress. Already, as many as 1 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees said late Wednesday.
President of Ukraine gives Biden a shot. Ehen asked about his call this week with biden, he said it's a pity that U.S. assistance didn't begin until after 5he war began.
So here's biden, who had been telling the world thst Russia was going to attack. And yet, didn't left a finger about it until after the fact. This is clear the same group that botched the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Reply to 10:09
China certainly played Russia's game to a degree, but it is important to point out that China has since then been giving Russia far less suppport in its invasion of Ukraine than Russia had hoped for. China keeps suggesting that Russia and Ukraine should settle this through talks, and that is NOT what Russia wants to be hearing at this point. The Chinese see that Putin has greatly miscalculated and do not want his pariah status to be rubbing off on them.
If Biden had urged an attack against Russia while the Russians were claiming they were not going to attack, they would have used that as an excuse to attack.
Instead, Biden not only accused them of lying, and kept on accusing them of that, but revealed they were planning to use a false flag excuse for attacking.
So when they did attack, they were robbed of a convincing excuse, and the world was even more united against them than they would have been otherwise.
Over the past 22 years Russia has fallen prey to a demented, corrupt and totalitarian regime, one we have in many ways facilitated. But it is a great country, one I have loved deeply, and one that has produced wonderful, humane, just men and women. It deserves better than this clique of thieves looting its wealth under the cover of illusory imperial fantasies, and ravaging its neighbors to maintain their grip on total power. Russia deserves freedom, the same freedom Ukraine has painfully obtained over the past three decades. A ceasefire in Ukraine is a vital, urgent first step, and a full Russian withdrawal a second one. But after that, Putin must go.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/03/vladimir-putin-ukraine-war-chechnya?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
The Ukraine president is not impressed with your rationalizing.
Myballs said...
President of Ukraine gives Biden a shot. Ehen asked about his call this week with biden, he said it's a pity that U.S. assistance didn't begin until after 5he war began.
So here's Biden, who had been telling the world thst Russia was going to attack. And yet, didn't left a finger about it until after the fact. This is clear the same group that botched the Afghanistan withdrawal.
As you said Biden did not help Ukraine build up its defenses. And he shared with China that we had top-secret access to Russia's communication channels. Of course we have had illegal back-door communications and possibly treasonous activities by these same US military officers with China before. But this is really inexcusable.
China played this in a way that strengthened China and hurt the US by sharing this with Russia. China wants to be the world power so a weaker US and Russia is very beneficial to them. Guess what this does for future intelligence gathering.
Evwrything Biden touches he fucks up.
At least for Americans
Meanwhile he thinks suburban parents are domestic terrorists
A good analysis
The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol dropped a bomb yesterday in a federal court filing saying they had evidence that Donald Trump and his allies may have conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
It’s very big news, but there are some caveats:
There’s no guarantee Congress will ultimately make a criminal referral to the Justice Department.There’s no guarantee the Justice Department will present the case to a grand jury.There’s no guarantee the grand jury will indict Trump.
Nonetheless, as former acting solicitor general Neil Katyal pointed out last night, the House is accusing a former president — in a federal court filing — of committing felonies.
This isn’t loose talk, it is a solemn court document, subject to all sorts of sanctions for misrepresentations, and backed by evidence they have uncovered.
It’s worth noting that no former U.S. president has ever been charged with a crime.
As a legal matter, we’re still a long way from seeing Trump on trial in a federal court. Trump is a master at delaying legal proceedings.
But as a political matter, this is starting to get interesting.
The Select Committee plans public hearings to begin in April, with an interim report expected by June. The select committee’s final report would come later in the fall, but before the midterm elections.
That guarantees major pushback by Trump and his Republican allies. It will put GOP lawmakers who voted against the formation of the House committee on the defensive.
And no matter which party controls Congress after the midterms, the ball will likely be passed to Attorney General Merrick Garland who will need to decide what to do before the 2024 presidential election — when Trump himself may be a candidate.
Will he do the first thing in history and indict a former President?
The Guardian
Opinion
War brought Vladimir Putin to power in 1999. Now, it must bring him down
Jonathan Littell
Putin believed he could invade Ukraine because everything we failed to do over the last 22 years taught him that we are weak
‘Putin might be a tactical genius, but he is incapable of thinking strategically.’
Twenty-two years ago, a vicious war brought Vladimir Putin to power. Ever since, war has remained one of his main tools, which he has used without flinching throughout his reign. Vladimir Putin exists thanks to war, has thrived through war. Let us now hope that a war will finally bring him down.
In August 1999, a then-unknown Vladimir Putin was named prime minister when his predecessor refused to condone a full reinvasion of Chechnya. Putin, however, was ready, and in return for their unconditional support he granted the military a free rein, allowing them to avenge their humiliating 1996 defeat in blood and fire. On the night of 31 December, an ageing and broken Boris Yeltsin stepped down, handing the presidency like a gift to the newcomer. In March 2000, after famously promising to “grease the terrorists even in the outhouse”, Putin was triumphally elected president. With the exception of his four years as prime minister (2008-2012), he has ruled Russia ever since.
I returned to Chechnya as an aid worker when the second war began. In February 2000, I had dinner with Sergey Kovalev, the great Russian human rights defender, and I asked him the question on everyone’s lips: who was this new unknown president? Who was Putin? I still remember Kovalev’s answer: “You want to know who Vladimir Putin is, young man? Vladimir Putin is a lieutenant colonel of the KGB. And do you know what a lieutenant colonel of the KGB is? Absolutely nothing.” What Kovalev meant was that a man who had never even made full colonel was simply a small-minded operative, incapable of thinking ahead more than a move or two.
And while Putin, over his 22 years in power, has grown immensely in stature and experience, I still believe the late Kovalev was fundamentally right.
Putin proved brilliant at exploiting the weakness and divisions of the west
Tactically, however, Putin soon proved brilliant, especially at exploiting the weakness and divisions of the west. It took him years to crush the Chechens and install a puppet regime there, but he succeeded. In 2008, four months after Nato promised a path to accession for Ukraine and Georgia, he gathered his armies for “maneuvers” at the Georgian border and invaded the country in five days, recognizing the independence of two breakaway “republics”. The western democracies mumbled protests, and did practically nothing.
In 2014, when the Ukrainian people, after a bloody revolution, overthrew their pro-Russian president, who had turned his back on Europe fully to align himself with Moscow, Putin swiftly invaded and annexed Crimea, the first overt landgrab in Europe since the second world war. When our leaders, shocked and bewildered, responded with sanctions, he upped the ante and provoked uprisings in Donbas, a Russian-speaking area of Ukraine, using his forces covertly to crush a weak Ukrainian army and carve out two new breakaway “republics”, where a low-level war has simmered ever since.
Thus he began what the French would call his fuite en avant, his “flight forward”. At every step, the west condemned and attempted to punish him, with mild and ineffective measures, in the vain hope of discouraging him. And at every step, he doubled down, and went further.
Growing up in postwar Leningrad clearly taught him a lesson: if you are the smaller boy, hit first, hit hard and keep hitting
Putin is a small man, physically, and growing up in postwar Leningrad must have been tough for him. It clearly taught him a lesson: if you are the smaller boy, hit first, hit hard and keep hitting. And the bigger boys will learn to fear you, and will back off. It is a lesson he has taken to heart. The US’s military budget for 2021 was about $750bn, Europe’s combined budget $200bn, and Russia’s about $65bn. Yet he still scares us a lot more than we scare him. It’s the advantage of fighting like a cornered rat, rather than like a pudgy boy gone soft on a diet of Coca-Cola, Instagram and 80 years of peace in Europe.
Putin must have rejoiced when the west, eager to freeze the active conflict in Donbas, quietly allowed Crimea off the discussion table, effectively conceding the illegal annexation to Russia. He saw that while sanctions hurt, they didn’t bite deep, and would allow him to continue building his military and extending his power. He saw that Germany, the greatest economic power in Europe, was unwilling to wean itself off his gas and his markets. He saw that he could buy European politicians, including former German and French prime ministers, and install them on the boards of his state-controlled companies. He saw that even the countries that nominally opposed his moves still kept repeating the mantras of “diplomacy”, “reset”, “the need to normalize relations”. He saw that each time he pushed, the west would roll over and then come fawning, hoping for an ever-elusive “deal”: Barack Obama, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump – the list is long.
China certainly played Russia's game to a degree, but it is important to point out that China has since then been giving Russia far less suppport in its invasion of Ukraine than Russia had hoped for. China keeps suggesting that Russia and Ukraine should settle this through talks, and that is NOT what Russia wants to be hearing at this point. The Chinese see that Putin has greatly miscalculated and do not want his pariah status to be rubbing off on them.
Just to be clear here Reverend...
You have faith that Xi Jinping is being honest with his public statements about all of this?
Each time he pushed, the west would roll over and then come fawning, hoping for an ever-elusive ‘deal’
Putin began murdering his opponents, at home and abroad. When it happened, we squeaked, but it never went further. When Obama, in 2013, callously ignored his own “red line” in Syria, refusing to intervene after Bashar al-Assad’s poison gassing of a civilian neighborhood in Damascus, Putin paid attention. In 2015, he sent his own forces into Syria, developing his naval base in Tartus and gaining a new air base in Khmeimin. Over the next seven years, he used Syria as a testing ground for his military, granting invaluable field experience to his officer corps and honing their tactics, coordination and equipment, all the while bombing and slaughtering thousands of Syrians, and helping Assad to regain control of large swaths of the country.
In January 2018, he began confronting western powers directly in the Central African Republic, sending his Wagner mercenaries there. The same process is now under way in Mali, where the military junta, with Russian support, has just forced the French anti-Isis mission out of the country. Russia is also actively involved in Libya, foiling western attempts to bring peace to the country, and deploying forces along the southern flank of the Mediterranean, in a position to directly threaten European interests. Every time, we protested, flailed, and did exactly nothing. And every time, he took good note.
Ukraine represents the moment when he finally decided to put his cards on the table. He clearly believes he is strong enough to openly defy the west by launching the first land war in Europe since 1945. And he believes it because everything we have done, or rather failed to do over the last 22 years, has taught him that we are weak.
Putin might be a tactical genius, but he is incapable of thinking strategically. Our leaders have refused to truly understand him, but he has also had no interest in understanding us. Completely isolated for the past two years because of Covid, he seems to have become increasingly paranoid and imbued with his own pan-Slavic, neo-imperialist and Orthodox ideology, originally a wholly artificial creation designed to give a thin veneer of legitimacy to his corrupt regime.
He seems to have truly swallowed his own propaganda when it comes to the Ukrainians. Did he believe they would welcome their Russian “liberators”? That they would just surrender? If he did, he was very wrong. The Ukrainians are fighting, and though outnumbered and outgunned, they are fighting hard. Schoolteachers, office clerks, housewives, artists, students, DJs and drag queens are taking up guns and going out to shoot Russian soldiers, many of whom are mere children who have no idea what they are doing there. Ukraine is not giving up an inch of ground, and it seems Putin will not be able to take their cities without leveling them, as he once leveled Grozny and Aleppo. And do not think that just because Kyiv is a “European” city, Putin will shrink from leveling it. Bombing has already started.
After the initial shock, the western democracies – finally! – seem to have understood the existential threat that Putin poses to the postwar world order, to Europe, and to our “way of life” which he so despises. Crushing sanctions are being put into place, no matter what the economic cost to us. Arms are pouring into Ukraine.
Germany seems to have realized overnight that it can no longer continue to depend on the kindness of others for its security, and that it needs an army of its own, a real and functional one. Russia is being massively isolated on the international level, and its economy and capacities will be severely diminished.
But this is not enough. As long as Putin remains in power, he will continue to double down, to push further, and to do as much harm as he can. Because he hates the west, and because his power is entirely based on violence: not just the threat, but the systematic use of it. It is the only way he knows how to behave. Can we really believe his nuclear threat is just a bluff? Can we afford to? As long as he continues to rule Russia, no one will be safe. No one.
As my wife has stated multiple times over the past ten years...
We need to hire a hitman and assassinate Putin!
Just to be clear here Reverend...
You have faith that Xi Jinping is being honest with his public statements about all of this?
Just to be clear here, Ch...
You think Putin is happy with China's repeated suggestion that even now, after he has massively committed troops, the matter should be settled by negotiating?
I agree on assassination,
but would prefer that he be assassinated by one of his own people.
Just to be clear here Reverend...
You have faith that Xi Jinping is being honest with his public statements about all of this?
BWAAAAAAAAAA!!!! About the same odds as you admitting trump got his old white ass kicked.....LOLOLOLOL
11:34
Is not helpful.
Pelosi Backs Banning Russian Oil Imports
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Thursday she supports banning oil import from Russia in response to Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Axios reports.
Said Pelosi: “I’m all for that. Ban it. Ban the oil coming from Russia.”
This is so much Fun.
Bidenomics
Day #1 of Joe average gas $2.24
Now. Current. Avg.$3.72
Totally avoidable
Good for Nancy, how long before she offer legislation?
Why she is at it Ban Russian Fertilizers.
Also , all Putin refined oil products.
Air Force does an "Elephant Walk" in Japan.
This is so much Fun.
It's not fun. It's not a game. It's war. It's serious. Sacrifices will have to be made, some far more severe. And that's not avoidable.
The "fun" I referred to was gas prices rocketing up Since Green Joe paid back his radical base and crushed the US Energy Sector.
But, watching you do your best Summer Soldier keyboard warrior act is hilarious.
Day #1 of Joe average gas $2.24
BWWAAAAAAAAA!!!! You are a horses ass goat fucker....Even for a KU graduate, you are stunningly stupid... Sorry sport, even a dumb fuck like you should realize why prices are soaring......idiiot
James, put the USA on a war footing.
Hi Dennis.
You think Putin is happy with China's repeated suggestion that even now, after he has massively committed troops, the matter should be settled by negotiating?
This is just my humble opinion...
But I don't trust what either man says and ultimately I still think they are in cahoots. After all, Xi asked Putin to hold off the invasion till after the Olympics, and then Putin did exactly that.
They may be frenemies or whatever, but ultimately I think they have an alliance that neither side will completely admit to. I think they are both devious snakes and to trust either one at this point is a fool's errand.
This was a good
thread until now.
I refuse to
participate in
where it's now going.
It is a free exchange of views.
And a very simple question princess.
In your topic Jamie
Did Nancy, offer legislation , block purchases of oil, refined oil products and Fertilizers?
I made my last comment before I saw Ch's last.
In res[ectful reply to him:
It's not a matter of "trusting" either Putin or Xi. Each is first and foremost self interested, in the sense of the self interest of their nation, as they understand it.
But Putin must see that Xi is holding back from saying what Putin would prefer for him to be saying.
I made my last comment before seeing Ch's. In respectful reply to him:
It's not a question of "trusting" either of them. Both are self interested in the sense of what they perceive as their nations' self interests, but it cannot please Putin that Xi is now holding back from saying just what Putin would prefer for him to be saying.
I made my last comment before seeing Ch's last.
In respectful reply to him:
It is not a question of "trusting" either of them. Both will be self interested in the sense of how they perceive their nations' interests. But it cannot please Putin that Xi is now holding back from saying what Putin would prefer to hear.
I suspect probably the same thing.
They want to unite a fascist alliance to take down the western alliance, NATO and the alliance with Australia and the United States etc.
They will never negotiate any agreement, because they want to dismantle the current global alliances.
Fortunately, most Republicans are not isolationists.
President Biden will be in charge for at least two and three quarters of years. And despite being a strong character like Trump and Putin, he has been doing fairly well.
The Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia is still working with the exception, despite being accused of a murder.
DUBAI, March 3 (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he does not care whether U.S. President Joe Biden misunderstood things about him, saying Biden should be focusing on America's interests, in an interview with The Atlantic monthly published on Thursday.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, the long-standing strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and Washington has come under strain over Riyadh's human rights record, especially with respect to the Yemen war and the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Prince Mohammed, the de facto Saudi ruler widely known as MbS, suggested in separate but related remarks carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA that Riyadh could choose to reduce investments in the United States,
"Simply, I do not care,” the crown prince said when asked by The Atlantic whether Biden misunderstood things about him. He said it was up to Biden "to think about the interests of America".
“We don’t have the right to lecture you in America,” he added. “The same goes the other way.”
The Biden administration released a U.S. intelligence report implicating the crown prince in the murder of Khashoggi, which MbS denies, and pressed for the release of political prisoners.
The crown prince told The Atlantic that he felt his own rights had been violated by the accusations against him in the brutal murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, who was killed inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.
"I feel that human rights law wasn’t applied to me...Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that any person is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Khashoggi's murder tarnished the reformist image that the crown prince had been cultivating in the West, which largely condemned him. MbS has wanted to return the focus to social and economic reforms that he has pushed through to open up Saudi Arabia and diversify its oil-dependent economy.
They do not appear to include wide political reform.
Asked whether Saudi rule could transform into a constitutional monarchy, MbS said no. “Saudi Arabia is based on pure monarchy,” he said.
Prince Mohammed also told The Atlantic that Riyadh's objective was to maintain and strengthen its "long, historical" relationship with America. He said Saudi investments in the United States amounted to $800 billion.
"In the same way we have the possibility of boosting our interests, we have the possibility of reducing them," SPA quoted him as saying.
While the crown prince enjoyed close relations with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, Biden has taken a tougher stance with the Gulf Arab powerhouseand has so far chosen only to speak with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, not MbS.
The Biden administration has also prioritised an end to the Yemen war, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for seven years. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
https://share.newsbreak.com/lanp8osf
But it cannot please Putin that Xi is now holding back from saying what Putin would prefer to hear.
I think this is what is called "projection" here a bit.
You cannot think like you think or think like American liberals think.
While American liberals seem to care a lot about what people say or whether people like them or whether people support their ideas... Most of the rest of the world doesn't give a bigger rat's ass.
So unless Xi and China actually "does something tangible" to undercut what Putin is doing, Putin is literally not going to lose a minute's sleep over what Xi says publically.
Bottom line is that leaders like Xi and Putin lie and don't care if anyone actually believes the lies. They just lie for the sake of pretense. It is most likely the case that Xi says one thing privately to Putin and then turns around and says something entirely different to the rest of the world.
Plus the administration is using every tool post to take down Putin
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Andrew Adams, a veteran federal prosecutor in New York City who has experience handling cases involving Russian organized crime groups, will lead the Justice Department's new task force aimed at Russian oligarchs, Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday.
"Together with our federal and international partners, we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war against Ukraine," Garland said in remarks to the American Bar Institute's National Institute on White Collar Crime.
Garland's announcement came one day after he unveiled the details about the new task force known as "KleptoCapture," tasked with investigating and prosecuting sanctions violations. It will also seek civil and criminal forfeitures to seize assets obtained through unlawful conduct. read more
The task force name references the word "kleptocracy": a society whose leaders misuse their powers to accumulate wealth at the expense of those they govern.
The task force, to be run out of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco's office, will be headed by Adams, who joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in 2013 and has served as lead prosecutor on several prominent asset forfeiture and organized crime cases.
Some of the most experienced in the country
You cannot think like you think or think like even most Republicans think.
I thought you did, but I was wrong about you
I suspect probably the same thing.
They want to unite a fascist alliance to take down the western alliance, NATO and the alliance with Australia and the United States etc.
They will never negotiate any agreement, because they want to dismantle the current global alliances.
Fortunately, most Republicans are not isolationists.
President Biden will be in charge for at least two and three quarters of years. And despite being a strong character like Trump and Putin, he ha
JUST IN
Top Russian General Killed In Ukraine
Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was killed in fighting in Ukraine earlier this week,” the AP reports.
Turkish Inflation Hits 54%
“Turkish prices rose at their fastest rate in 20 years in February as the lira tumbled and food and energy prices surged, stirring discontent about the state of the economy,” the Financial Times reports.
“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who calls himself an ‘enemy of interest rates,’ triggered a collapse in the currency at the end of last year when he ordered the central bank to aggressively cut borrowing costs despite soaring inflation.”
Europe’s Sleeping Giant Awakens
The Atlantic: “Scholz announced that Germany would
*end its dependence on Russian gas,
*spend an additional 100 billion euros on its military,
*and deliver hundreds of anti-tank weapons and Stinger missiles to Ukraine in order to help its overmatched military counter Russia’s all-out assault.
"Germany may also be forced to extend the life of its nuclear plants to fill the energy gap created by the halt to Russian gas supplies.
“Each one of these decisions represents something of an earthquake.
"Taken together, they are a political cataclysm that no one saw coming—not from a novice chancellor known for his caution,
not from a coalition of German parties with pacifist roots,
and certainly not from a government led by the Social Democrats, with their history of close ties to Russia.”
WOW!
Nuclear Chief Says Iran Trip May ‘Pave Way’ for Deal
WOW!
The head of the world’s atomic watchdog said his trip on Saturday to Tehran could “pave the way” to reviving the Iranian nuclear deal,
an agreement that would return the country’s oil exports to global markets, Bloomberg reports.
Wall Street Journal:
“Iranian and U.S. officials are entering a crucial week of negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, with significant differences remaining on several key issues and new concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could complicate the talks.”
Still, WOW!
Sorry Roger...
Not understanding your illogical word salad. But as you just stated only yesterday. We should never listen to anyone without a college degree.
My point to the Reverend is a simple problem where liberals seems obsessed with words and opinions, whereas people like Putin and Xi will lie to the world and not give a bigger damned if anyone believes them or hates them for lying.
Like the concept being offered that Biden could "reset" his Presidency with a speech? As if a "Speech" is going to lower inflation, lower crime rates, end Covid, or stop a war in Ukraine.
People like Putin will not react to opinions, to insults, to people saying bad things about him. He will react to tangible actions that are being taken. As long as China literally stays out of the fray, Putin doesn't care what Xi might "say".
This is just a fundamental difference in how certain types of people think and what matters to them. Probably why you keep insisting that a war in Ukraine is about American election politics and why you keep "projecting" your own issues about the election onto others.
Most of us don't care about the election as it pertains to the war in Ukraine, nor do most of us probably believe that the outcome there is goign to matter. We needed to stop it - we didn't. That is a failure.
During Biden's administration,
the world is being altered.
China wanted to make common cause with Putin's Russia against America, but China is not willing to share Putin's increasing pariah status to do that.
Did Nancy, offer legislation , block purchases of oil, refined oil products and Fertilizers?
IN THE ORDER THESE ARRIVED
FIRST
Top Russian General Killed In Ukraine
SECOND
Putin Claims War ‘Going According to Plan’
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to carry on his war in Ukraine against “neo-Nazis” in a meeting with his Security Council, the Washington Post reports.
As reports indicated Russian military difficulties in advancing and taking over cities, Putin said the invasion was “going according to plan and in full compliance with the timetable. All tasks set during the special operation in Ukraine are being accomplished successfully.”
THIRD
Macron Convinced ‘Worst Is Yet to Come’
A 90-minute conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to deliver a diplomatic breakthrough, and a senior French official said it left Macron convinced that “the worst is yet to come” and that Putin aims to take control of all of Ukraine, the Washington Post reports.
New York Times:
“The call, which the French presidency said came at the Kremlin’s request, was the third discussion between the two leaders since the start of the war.”
AND YET--
FOURTH
Russian Military Convoy Remains Stalled
“Russian operations in northern Ukraine appeared to be stalled for a third day as the Kremlin sent more troops into the country, adding that Ukrainian forces may be attacking a convoy of Russian forces attempting to take the major northern cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv,” the New York Times reports.
Did Nancy, offer legislation , block purchases of oil, refined oil products and Fertilizers?
AND THEN THERE IS THIS----
Photos of Captured and Killed Russians Added to Google Maps
2:15 pm EST
“Google Maps users are uploading dozens of photos of destruction, injured civilians, and captured Russian soldiers in Ukraine to the Google Maps listings of popular locations within Russia’s major cities,” Vice News reports.
“Russian president Vladimir Putin has blocked or limited access to foreign news coverage of the war in Ukraine, including Facebook and Twitter, some of the few places people within Russia that citizens could get non-state sanctioned news.
"Google Maps allows users to upload photos of places—usually as part of a review of the spot—but people are using this feature to get images from Ukraine into Russia.”
Washington Post:
“A besieged Ukraine has adopted a gruesome tactic in hopes of stoking anti-government rage inside Russia:
posting photos and videos of captured and killed Russian soldiers on the Web for anyone to see.”
Trump Enraged When Told Fraud Claims Were ‘Bullshit’
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr told NBC News that then-President Donald Trump became furious after Barr told him there was no evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Said Barr:
“I told him that all this stuff was bullshit… about election fraud. And, you know, it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was.”
He told Trump:
“I understand you’re upset with me. And I’m perfectly happy to tender my resignation.”
Trump then slapped his desk and said:
“Accepted. Accepted.’ And then — boom. He slapped it again. ‘Accepted. Go home. Don’t go back to your office. Go home. You’re done.'”
LOL If Trump had listened to Barr, he might be in less trouble today.
James said
"Sacrifices will have to be made"
Please tell us what "sacrifies" you see us making in the usa.
Nobody cares what you think, say, or ask.
More funny shot.
Services Sector Growth Unexpectedly Slumps to 12-Month Low
James , nice white flag.
stuff it
Butt hurt liberals are funny.
More bad news for the food consumer in the USA.
"Russia has banned the export of ammonium nitrate (AN) from Feb. 2 to April 1,2022"
I believe exactly the opposite because you hate liberals.
insisting that a war in Ukraine is about American election politics and why you keep "projecting" your own issues about the election onto others.
Most of us don't care about the election as it pertains to the war in Ukraine, nor do most of us probably believe that the outcome there is goign to matter. We needed to stop it - we didn't. That is a failure.
I care about the people of Ukraine and other countries .
But you have sign of bipolar and IED Syndrome
I'm not surprised. But no knock warrants should not be used
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky jury has cleared a former police officer who fired shots during the 2020 drug raid that ended in Breonna Taylor’s death. The jury on Thursday found Brett Hankison not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots that ripped into a neighboring apartment.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The fate of the only police officer charged in the raid that ended with Breonna Taylor's death was in the hands of a jury Thursday after a prosecutor said he couldn’t have seen a shooter before firing wildly into her apartment and endangering her neighbors.
Brett Hankison has been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, punishable by one to five years in prison, for firing shots during the raid that went through a sliding-glass side door and a window of Taylor's apartment and into a unit next door where a couple and small child lived.
My VP.
Question, will u cut of Putin Paychecks from the USA for his Oil?
""As you know, on this issue, for example, we applaud Germany in terms of what it has done as it relates to Nord Stream 2," Harris said. "As it relates to what we need to do domestically as well as what we need to do in terms of this issue generally, we have, as the president said, to reevaluate what we’re doing in terms of strategic oil reserves here in the United States to make sure that it will not have an impact, or we can mitigate the impact on the American consumer."
James, I feel the same way about Ch
“Right now, I frankly do not see how anybody can get through to Putin,” said Vaira Vike-Freiberga, a former president of Latvia who met with her Russian counterpart repeatedly. “He is so dead set on rewriting history ... he has invented a parallel universe in which he lives mentally.”.. and Trump and Ch
MY V.P. Harris
"Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country."
She is clueless
Biden enabled Nord Stream 2.
""As you know, on this issue, for example, we applaud Germany in terms of what it has done as it relates to Nord Stream 2,"
Biden inks deal with Irainians, yes, the real Irainians.
Oil for nukes.
I care about the people of Ukraine and other countries
Really?
Because if you actually cared about Ukraine and not American politics you would agree with the vast majority of the world who believes Biden screwed the pooch and you would be angry because of it.
But instead of having the obvious reaction of someone who truly cared about Ukrainians, you instead defend Biden and his lack of action, make excuses, and even manage to pull Trump into the fray.
Joe has zero plan to decrease pump pain.
The answers coming from Gramhole and Madam Sec Buttigeg are comical.
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