Europe at War

[Karl Henning]

I'm glad that she made it to safety, but I'm sorry to hear that her family is still there.  Any idea how close they are currently to any fighting Karl?
Very sorry to hear that.   

That I ken not, PD!

[Karl Henning]

Which I think is silly. I fail to see how performing Tchaikovsky is somehow "supporting Russia". And anyway the target is Putin, not "Russia".

A spectacularly poor call by Cardiff. And I think that the 1812 Overture is a good programming choice: Triumph over a megalomaniac invader? Yes, please!

[Karl Henning]

Agreed.  👍  Saw an interesting item on the evening news last night about a big rash of major vandalism attacks on restaurants with Russian names, like Russia House in DC and Russian Tea Room in Manhattan. These places are like 100 years old and 3-4 generations removed from Russia. What possible relevance can breaking their windows  have to Putin??

Or the bars that are pouring all of their vodka, made outside of Russia by foreign contractors, down the street gutter.. boy howdy 🤠, that'll show them Russkies!   F***ing morons... 😠

🤠😎

Yeah, it's like "I disagree with the mullahs in Iran. Ban Omar Khayyam!!!"

(* chortle *)

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

No, hes not walking-around-naked-yelling-at-traffic crazy, but from everything Ive heard I'd say he is living in an alternate reality partly due to being told only what he wants to hear and partly due to an uncontrolled narcissism.

Apropos of that, here's an insider report on the thoughts and reactions of his inner circle and other bigwigs in the Russian gov't. Summary: they really didn't expect him to go this far.

https://ilyalozovsky.substack.com/p/what-russian-officials-think-of-the?s=r

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Or the bars that are pouring all of their vodka, made outside of Russia by foreign contractors, down the street gutter.. boy howdy 🤠, that'll show them Russkies!   F***ing morons... 😠

We've been here before - "freedom fries," "liberty cabbage," etc. War always brings out the worst in jingoistic impulses.

[Karl Henning]

We've been here before - "freedom fries," "liberty cabbage," etc. War always brings out the worst in jingoistic impulses.

Yep. One despairs of the race. As we learned all too thoroughly under Trump: Bigotry is here to stay.

[Florestan]

I think that the 1812 Overture is a good programming choice: Triumph over a megalomaniac invader? Yes, please!

My thoughts exactly.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

40 Republican senators, including McConell and Romney, request sending fighter jets to Ukraine. I am not totally opposed. I have a mixed feeling about it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/60710226

Ukraine reveals 'Russian warship, go fxxx yourself!' postage stamp.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/12/ukraine-reveals-russian-warship-go-fuck-yourself-postage-stamp

[MusicTurner]

"... brightest assessment yet of progress in talks on war"

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-delegate-says-talks-with-ukraine-may-soon-produce-draft-agreements-2022-03-13/?taid=622e151391bc6a00016ec286&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[Gurn Blanston]

We've been here before - "freedom fries," "liberty cabbage," etc. War always brings out the worst in jingoistic impulses.

But damnit, Walter, it's freaking embarrassing to have to share a country with such idiots. Yeah, Freedom Fries was my first thought while watching the story, and the idiot congressmen who perpetrated it.

🤠😎

[Que]

And there you have it:

(Reuters)LONDON: Russia said on Sunday (Mar 13) that it was counting on China to help it withstand the blow to its economy from Western sanctions, which it said had frozen nearly half of its gold and foreign currency reserves.

"We have part of our gold and foreign exchange reserves in the Chinese currency, in yuan. And we see what pressure is being exerted by Western countries on China in order to limit mutual trade with China. Of course, there is pressure to limit access to those reserves," Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

"But I think that our partnership with China will still allow us to maintain the cooperation that we have achieved, and not only maintain, but also increase it in an environment where Western markets are closing."


Well, I think Putin and Xi Jinping miscalculated and the latter will now have no other option than to drop Putin like a hot brick...

[MusicTurner]

Yes, many commentators share that view now.

Here's one explanation for such a Western-orientated Chinese strategy; Russia is going down, and Western ideals will be advancing.
I'm not sure, that I agree with the thoughts here about Europe experiencing increased US domination in the future, though; the EU is generally striving for more independence.

https://uscnpm.org/2022/03/12/hu-wei-russia-ukraine-war-china-choice/

One could add: with only 20 mio people living in Siberia, but vast resources and a proximity to China, it seems likely that in the longer run, Siberia will de facto become a Chinese vassal state anyway, when Russia experiences further weakening.

[drogulus]

     The Ten Hardest Truths About the War in Europe

     I'll just list them.

(1) America is now in a world war.

(2) If Donald Trump again becomes president in January 2025, America will lose the war we are currently in with Russia and our democracy may collapse.

(3) All this is complicated by the fact that what we're witnessing is the start of the second genocide in Europe (cf. Bosnia) since the Holocaust.

(4) No one in the U.S. government, NATO, or the European Union believes Ukraine can win this war.

(5) The fact that Russia can stay in Ukraine long-term—and can weather sanctions long-term—underscores a key indicator that we are in a world war: global alliances are already shifting dramatically in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

(6) The costs of the current world war may be more than Americans are willing to bear—and if a majority of Americans come to wrongly feel it's President Biden rather than Putin and his allies (including Trump) who have brought the world to its current pass, it will punish the Democrats and reward the Republicans. In doing so, it would play into Putin's hands.

(7) Putin has no exit strategy.

(8 ) Biden's administration is publicly in denial about much of this.

(9) Yes, America's so-called "culture war"—launched by Republicans as a cynical rhetorical exercise in the 1990s, but ultimately reified as a discrete, personally and politically profitable phenomenon—is relevant to the ongoing war in Europe. This means political discourse in the U.S. is even more entwined with Russia's invasion of Ukraine than we realize.

(10) Everything now happening is only the beginning.

[MusicTurner]

Yet, all these points are very debatable, except perhaps 10).

[Que]

Yes, many commentators share that view now.

Here's one explanation for such a Western-orientated Chinese strategy; Russia is going down, and Western ideals will be advancing.
I'm not sure that I agree with the thoughts here about Europe experiencing increased US domination in the future, though; the EU is striving for more independence.

https://uscnpm.org/2022/03/12/hu-wei-russia-ukraine-war-china-choice/

The US back in the driver's seat? No thank you - I don't hope or think so....

The reason for either is the same: US domestic politics has gone completely and utterly bonkers.

The US cannot be trusted to lead the way and it is no longer capable to fulfil such a role.

As long as there is a Democrat in the White House the US could be a senior partner in a western coalition, even if his/her hands are tied domestically. If Trump takes over: God help the fate of the free world... I think one lunatic as world leader is already quite enough....

[MusicTurner]

(..) It's a simple fact that we didn't have so much sh*t hitting so many different fans during Trump's term.

True - since, by comparison, eventually all the fans had gotten overwhelmingly drowned in it ...

[MusicTurner]

What we're seeing now is drowning. Actually 2017-early 2020 look idyllic by comparison.

Concerning my remark, I see that you clarified your post.

[MusicTurner]

He surely said a lot of stuff.

[Que]

I think it has to be kept in mind though that Russia is, you know, a nuclear power. This isn't quite like rolling over Sadaam Hussein.

The main problem if this whole sad saga. And Putin has no scrupules playing this card.

[MusicTurner]

Yes, many commentators share that view now.

Here's one explanation for such a Western-orientated Chinese strategy; Russia is going down, and Western ideals will be advancing.
I'm not sure, that I agree with the thoughts here about Europe experiencing increased US domination in the future, though; the EU is generally striving for more independence.

https://uscnpm.org/2022/03/12/hu-wei-russia-ukraine-war-china-choice/

One could add: with only 20 mio people living in Siberia, but vast resources and a proximity to China, it seems likely that in the longer run, Siberia will de facto become a Chinese vassal state anyway, when Russia experiences further weakening.

Things can happen fast. Now Russia has officially asked China for military equipment assistance in the Ukraine war. One would assume that this will result in some important signalling from China relatively soon.