World Politics

[the watcher]

I thought this was an excellent  article on some of the causes/ results / possible outcomes  of the Russian invasion. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/26/ukraine-war-revenge-of-history-how-geopolitics-shaping-conflict

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, the watcher said:

I thought this was an excellent  article on some of the causes/ results / possible outcomes  of the Russian invasion. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/26/ukraine-war-revenge-of-history-how-geopolitics-shaping-conflict

 

What I took from that article is that it's saying the Russians can't win the war. The hatred for the Russians goes back many centuries. From conquering Russian armies of the past to the Holdomor in 1932-33, the resolve of the Ukrainians is too great.

My Uncle came from the Ukraine. He emigrated to Canada after World War 2 & married my aunt who was also Ukrainian but born & raised in Canada. I knew of this Ukrainian hatred of Russians back 50 years ago whenever he spoke about Russians with much contempt. I think had he owned a gun & knew a Russian was approaching him on the streets of Winnipeg back then he'd have shot him dead without any guilt, sorrow or misgivings. The Russian could be a total stranger. It didn't matter. His hatred was that strong. Now the war is fueling that same hatred to a new generation of Ukrainians.

The question is, will NATO countries keep supplying the Ukraine with weapons to fight? The Ukrainians can't drive the Russians out without help from NATO  countries. The support is crucial or the Bully wins.  

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by SpeedFlex27

[Tracker]

21 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

 

What I took from that article is that it's saying the Russians can't win the war. The hatred for the Russians goes back many centuries. From conquering Russian armies of the past to the Holdomor in 1932-33, the resolve of the Ukrainians is too great.

My Uncle came from the Ukraine. He emigrated to Canada after World War 2 & married my aunt who was also Ukrainian but born & raised in Canada. I knew of this Ukrainian hatred of Russians back 50 years ago whenever he spoke about Russians with much contempt. I think had he owned a gun & knew a Russian was approaching him on the streets of Winnipeg back then he'd have shot him dead without any guilt, sorrow or misgivings. The Russian could be a total stranger. It didn't matter. His hatred was that strong. Now the war is fueling that same hatred to a new generation of Ukrainians.

The question is, will NATO countries keep supplying the Ukraine with weapons to fight? The Ukrainians can't drive the Russians out without help from NATO  countries. The support is crucial or the Bully wins.  

 

Europe has no real option to providing Ukraine with everything they need to fight the war. Putin is a monomanaical tyrant who will stop at nothing. He has gambled everything on grinding the Ukrainians into submission by destroying their infrastructure  and making them so economically devastated that (in Putin's plans) Europe will see them as unworthy to join them. Simultaneously, Putin has gambled that the people of Europe will tire of the economic hardships and pressure their leaders to abandon Ukraine to its fate. So far, the US has expended about 5% of its military budget to stalemate Russia and effectively destroy half of its military. A small price to pay. European leaders have to remind their voters that Russia's ambitions will not stop at Ukrainian borders.

[Fatty Liver]

I don't know if these 3 interviews with a British reservist have been posted earlier but I thought they were very entertaining and informative explaining the situation on the ground in Ukraine from a soldier's perspective.  Interesting that he estimates shooting people with personal weapons accounts for less than 1% of causalities in modern warfare, but considering the advanced weaponry being used, it totally makes sense.  Being an infantry soldier on the ground has been a bad career choice since WW1.

 

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, Tracker said:

Europe has no real option to providing Ukraine with everything they need to fight the war. Putin is a monomanaical tyrant who will stop at nothing. He has gambled everything on grinding the Ukrainians into submission by destroying their infrastructure  and making them so economically devastated that (in Putin's plans) Europe will see them as unworthy to join them. Simultaneously, Putin has gambled that the people of Europe will tire of the economic hardships and pressure their leaders to abandon Ukraine to its fate. So far, the US has expended about 5% of its military budget to stalemate Russia and effectively destroy half of its military. A small price to pay. European leaders have to remind their voters that Russia's ambitions will not stop at Ukrainian borders.

Like the article stated, Putin was counting om Trumpers winning big in the mid terms but that didn't happen. Trump may never be President again. (We can only hope). 

[bustamente]

More and more people are thinking that Trump will run as the third candidate in an election which is probably making the Democrats do cart wheels.

[Tracker]

                                                

[Tracker]

Russian State TV Hails Lauren Boebert For Refusing To Stand For War Hero Volodymyr Zelensky

Right-wing Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) won a significant new fan — Kremlin state TV — for refusing to stand and applaud Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he spoke to Congress in Washington, D.C., last Wednesday.

It hailed her as “brave” for failing to honor Zelensky, who has led his nation against a bloody, brutal invasion by Russia. The broadcast also gave shout outs to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson for dissing the leader considered a hero by his country.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lauren-boebert-stand-ukrainina-president-zelensky-congress_n_63a9227be4b0ae9de1b18566

[Tracker]

The Iranian national team players have decided to donate their World Cup prize money to freeing prisoners. Yesterday, 20 prisoners were freed in Ardabil, and others will be freed in Bushehr, Lorestan, Kashan, and other cities across Iran. Great act of charity by the players.

[Tracker]

[Tracker]

Netanyahu’s Right-Wing Blitz Is the ‘Most Corrupt’ Day in Israeli History

JERUSALEM—Israel’s parliament, now with a majority of legislators promising to back incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is on a radical right-wing “legislative blitz” ahead of his anticipated installation on Thursday.

The House has effectively been commandeered to enable Netanyahu’s sixth government by passing laws required to tie up coalition deals with his radical new partners.

Without a series of laws fundamentally transforming Israel’s judicial landscape, Netanyahu has no way of forming a governing coalition, and Israel would be launched towards new elections.

A law passed in the early hours of Tuesday permits the reinstatement of Aryeh Deri, a former interior minister, who resigned from the Knesset last year as part of a plea deal in which he admitted to defrauding the state of $152,365 in taxes, and agreed to leave public life.

That was Deri’s second entanglement with the law: in 2000 he was convicted of accepting bribes and was sentenced to three years in jail, of which he served two.

Netanyahu—don’t forget—is himself on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and does not have the parliamentary votes to form a coalition government without Deri’s Shas party. Ergo, the law which allows Deri to become a minister in the Netanyau’s latest coalition.

Baruch Kra, legal analyst for Israel's Channel 13 television, tweeted that “this morning, December 27, 2022, with the passage of the Deri Law, will be remembered as the most corrupt in the history of the Israeli parliament.”

Another law passed under cover of night will benefit Bezalel Smotrich, a nationalist theocrat who hopes to impose “Torah law” on Israel, and a self-described “proud homophobe” slated to become Israel’s finance minister in the new coalition. The law will allow him to take a huge amount of control over the occupied West Bank, which was previously under the sole purview of Israel’s army. It even explicitly limits Netanyahu’s ability to direct policy over the occupied territory.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/netanyahus-right-wing-blitz-is-the-most-corrupt-day-in-israeli-history?ref=home

[bustamente]

Enemies of Putin need to stop being close to windows or elevator shafts.

[Tracker]

6 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Enemies of Putin need to stop being close to windows or elevator shafts.

Putin is re-creating the paranoid furore of Joseph Stalin. On the eve of the Germans turning on Russia after the partition of Poland, Stalin was so insane that he order the execution of dozens of his top generals, and when the Germans invaded, there was such turmoil in the military that the Russian response was piecemeal and weak, to say the least. The whole Russian central command was almost nonexistent and the Germans went where they pleased with the only limiting factor being their supply lines.

Putin is killing off some powerful people and even those who have been loyal to him have to start wondering when it will their turn to have an accident. This will lead them to doing whatever is necessary to survive, even if it means deposing or killing Putin. That may be a lot closer that you might think. Russians cannot access the banked money and many will start to become desperate. All this on top of even more bad news in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces have retaken another key city and are near to taking yet another. If the Wagner group of mercenaries are not being paid, as some reports say, their loyalty will evaporate, leaving a bloodied and broken military who no longer have any faith in their commanders,

[Tracker]

 

 

                                

[17to85]

18 hours ago, bustamente said:

Enemies of Putin need to stop being close to windows or elevator shafts.

Skip tea time too

[Tracker]

 

                            

[Tracker]

 

           

Second Russian Defense Sector Bigwig Dies in Two Days

The former commander-in-chief of Russia’s ground forces died in a military hospital earlier this week—the second bigwig in the country’s military industrial complex to die in just two days.

They are just the latest senior Russia military or political elites to drop dead unexpectedly in recent months.

Alexei Maslov, a retired army general, was serving as a special representative of military-technical cooperation for Uralvagonzavod, Russia’s largest tank manufacturer, when he died “unexpectedly” last Saturday, the company announced in a statement.  No cause of death was given.

Maslov, who was appointed as Russia’s military representative to NATO in 2008, died just two days after Vladimir Putin abruptly canceled his first visit to Uralvagonzavod since 2019.

The Russian leader was expected to fly into Yekaterinburg last week before heading to Nizhny Tagil to meet with staffers at the tank factory, where workers have been enduring 12-hour days, six days a week due to fulfill orders for the war against Ukraine.

https://www.thedailybeast.com

[GCn20]

On 2022-12-16 at 8:03 PM, WildPath said:

And now threating "consequences" to US/NATO if they provide Ukraine with Patriot air defense missiles so the citizens can have heat/water.

Russia warns of 'consequences' if U.S. sends Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine | CBC News

Putin is creating a humanitarian catastrophe and trying to deny other nations the opportunity to help resist it. Heartless bastard. Hopefully he gets what is coming to him soon.

Putin is going to be villified in the pages of history, and his own people will view him as a colossal failure over time. His ambition to secure his legacy has completely backfired. He will get what is coming to him, it will just take some time. He could have went down as one of Russia's greatest leaders had he not lost his marbles. Unfortunate.

[GCn20]

On 2022-12-27 at 4:23 PM, bustamente said:

Enemies of Putin need to stop being close to windows or elevator shafts.

I am thinking that the wolves are at Putin's door and he is doing his best to keep them away. 

On 2022-12-27 at 4:42 PM, Tracker said:

Putin is re-creating the paranoid furore of Joseph Stalin. On the eve of the Germans turning on Russia after the partition of Poland, Stalin was so insane that he order the execution of dozens of his top generals, and when the Germans invaded, there was such turmoil in the military that the Russian response was piecemeal and weak, to say the least. The whole Russian central command was almost nonexistent and the Germans went where they pleased with the only limiting factor being their supply lines.

Putin is killing off some powerful people and even those who have been loyal to him have to start wondering when it will their turn to have an accident. This will lead them to doing whatever is necessary to survive, even if it means deposing or killing Putin. That may be a lot closer that you might think. Russians cannot access the banked money and many will start to become desperate. All this on top of even more bad news in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces have retaken another key city and are near to taking yet another. If the Wagner group of mercenaries are not being paid, as some reports say, their loyalty will evaporate, leaving a bloodied and broken military who no longer have any faith in their commanders,

I feel that Putin is murdering people that are probably out to get him. However, what he is failing to realize is that killing the wolves at your door only tends to attract more wolves.

On 2022-12-27 at 4:42 PM, Tracker said:

Putin is re-creating the paranoid furore of Joseph Stalin. On the eve of the Germans turning on Russia after the partition of Poland, Stalin was so insane that he order the execution of dozens of his top generals, and when the Germans invaded, there was such turmoil in the military that the Russian response was piecemeal and weak, to say the least. The whole Russian central command was almost nonexistent and the Germans went where they pleased with the only limiting factor being their supply lines.

Putin is killing off some powerful people and even those who have been loyal to him have to start wondering when it will their turn to have an accident. This will lead them to doing whatever is necessary to survive, even if it means deposing or killing Putin. That may be a lot closer that you might think. Russians cannot access the banked money and many will start to become desperate. All this on top of even more bad news in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces have retaken another key city and are near to taking yet another. If the Wagner group of mercenaries are not being paid, as some reports say, their loyalty will evaporate, leaving a bloodied and broken military who no longer have any faith in their commanders,

If the Wagner group is not being paid they will simply leave. Mercs are mercs...there was never any loyalty.

[Tracker]

Expert details 4 ways Netanyahu’s new far-right government threatens Israeli democracy
.

Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.

The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts.

Here are the four ways that Israel's democratic institutions, customs and practices are endangered by the new government, based on policies and legislation that might be enacted or that are already in process.

1. Hostility to freedom of speech and dissent

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been working for years to consolidate his grip on Israeli media. The new government plans to accelerate the privatization of media in the hands of friendly interests and brand as anti-Israeli and treasonous media outlets its leaders deem hostile. The signs of this delegitimization are already here.

A dozen and a half people standing in three rows for a photo.

Ministers of Israel's 37th government wait to have their group picture taken with the president and prime minister at the president's residence in Jerusalem on Dec. 29, 2022. Photo by Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

Even before the newly appointed minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took office, the police briefly arrested and interrogated journalist Israel Frey after he posted a controversial tweet hinting that the Israeli military may be a legitimate target of Palestinian attacks. The police claimed the tweet incited terrorism, and the arrest showed journalists who favor an open and free press that they might face retaliation.

Ben-Gvir, the head of the Jewish Power party and now overseer of the police, was convicted in the past for supporting Jewish terrorism and for racist incitement against Israel's Arab minority. In his inauguration speech on Jan. 1, the new minister branded "Jewish anarchists" – a code he often uses for leftists and human rights organizations – as threats that "needed to be dealt with."

2. Diminishing equal rights

The Netanyahu government appears poised to allow discrimination against the LGBTQ community and women, thus undermining equality before the law, an important democratic principle.

Incoming National Missions Minister Orit Strock said in an interview in late December, "If a doctor is asked to give any type of treatment to someone that violates his religious faith, if there is another doctor who can do it, then you can't force them to provide treatment."

Netanyahu condemned Strock and other coalition members who stated that gay people could be denied service by businesses if serving them contradicts the business owner's religious beliefs. Yet, journalists report that Likud and other coalition partners agreed in writing to amend the law against discrimination to allow exactly such a policy.

During early coalition negotiations, ultra-Orthodox parties demanded new legislation that would allow gender-based segregation in public spaces and events. Netanyahu has reportedly agreed, which means these laws are expected to pass the Knesset. Segregation in educational spheres, public transportation and public events is often translated into exclusion of women and weakening of women's voices, and hence contradicts basic democratic principles such as freedom and equality.

3. West Bank annexation and apartheid

The new government's intention to de facto annex the West Bank will turn hollow Israel's claims of being the only democracy in the Middle East.

In a Dec. 28 tweet, Netanyahu announced that his government's guidelines will include the principle that "the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel," including the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967 and populated by a Palestinian majority.

These guidelines, combined with new nominations of far right politician Bezalel Smotrich as the minister responsible for Jewish settlements and Ben-Gvir as the minister in charge of the border police, could provide justification for annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Based on much of the rhetoric of right-wing leaders such as Smotrich, Palestinian residents of these lands will have neither equal rights nor voting rights. This means apartheid, not democracy.

4. Erasing the separation of powers

In the Israeli system, the executive and legislative branches are always controlled by the same coalition. The courts are the only institution that can check the power of the ruling parties and uphold the country's Basic Laws, which provide rights in the absence of a formal constitution.

But the new government wants to erase this separation of power and explicitly aims at weakening the courts. On Jan. 4, after less than a week in his role, new Minister of Justice Yariv Levin announced the government's plan for a radical judicial reform, which will include the "override clause." That clause will allow a simple majority in the Knesset to re-enact any law struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

 

[Tracker]

 

                     

[FrostyWinnipeg]

What does facial recognition software make of Putin’s backdrop crowd?

[iHeart]

are we going to find out that this loser instigated them too?

https://www.tmz.com/2023/01/08/brazilians-storm-national-congress-jair-bolsonaro-losing-election/

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/brazil-capital-riot-aftermath-1.6707590

Quote

Brazilian police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil's state institutions since the country's return to democracy in the 1980s.

Hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback amassed at the encampment near Brasilia's army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said, the day after thousands of Bolsonaro's backers stormed congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro's leftist rival who took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow October election win, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, after demonstrators broke windows and furniture, destroyed artwork and stole guns and artifacts.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-top-court-removes-brasilia-governor-over-pro-bolsonaro-riots-2023-01-09/

Quote

BRASILIA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes decided late on Sunday to remove Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha for 90 days alleging security flaws that allowed the invasion of government buildings by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Moraes also ruled that camps outside military bases set up by coup-mongering Bolsonaro supporters should be lifted within 24 hours and that roads and buildings should be unblocked.

Smoothbrained Brazilians drinking the MAGAt kool-aid. What a ****-show.

[Tracker]

'Should not be given refuge': Lawmakers demand Jair Bolsonaro be sent back to Brazil

Prominent U.S. lawmakers said Sunday that Jair Bolsonaro should not be given safe harbor in Florida after his supporters—animated by the far-right former president's election lies—launched a massive attack on Brazil's main government buildings, an assault that came a week after leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated.

"Two years ago our Capitol was attacked by fanatics, now we are watching it happen in Brazil," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said Sunday evening after thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and ransacked Brazil's presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court.

"Solidarity with Lula and the Brazilian people," Omar continued. "Democracies around the world must stand united to condemn this attack on democracy. Bolsonaro should not be given refuge in Florida."

Just two days before his term ended and he was set to relinquish power to Lula following his failed bid to overturn the October election results, Bolsonaro flew to Orlando, Florida "with plans to stay for at least a month," The New York Times reported.

According to the Times, Bolsonaro—an ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump—has been "living in a rented house owned by a professional mixed martial arts fighter a few miles from Disney World." The Washington Post reported last month that "days after Bolsonaro's loss, allies met with Trump aides in the United States to discuss next steps. His son Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman, met Trump at Mar-a-Lago [in November] in Palm Beach, Florida."

https://www.alternet.org/should-not-be-given-refuge/