The Evening Blues - 1-31-23



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Albert Washington

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features r&b singer and guitarist Albert Washington. Enjoy!

Albert Washington - I'm The Man

“Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.”

-- Baltasar Gracian


News and Opinion

Chris Hedges: Ukraine: The War That Went Wrong

The rapid upgrade of sophisticated military hardware and aid provided to Ukraine is not a good sign for the NATO alliance. It takes many months, if not years, of training to operate and coordinate these weapons systems. Tank battles — I was in the last major tank battle outside Kuwait City during the first Gulf war as a reporter — are highly choreographed and complex operations. Armor must work in close concert with air power, warships, infantry and artillery batteries. It will be many, many months, if not years, before Ukrainian forces receive adequate training to operate this equipment and coordinate the diverse components of a modern battlefield. Indeed, the U.S. never succeeded in training the Iraqi and Afghan armies in combined arms maneuver warfare, despite two decades of occupation. ...

NATO military commanders understand that the infusion of these weapons systems into the war will not alter what is, at best, a stalemate, defined largely by artillery duels over hundreds of miles of front lines. ... The other problem with advanced weapons systems such as the M1 Abrams, which have 1,500-horsepower turbine engines that run on jet fuel, is that they are temperamental and require highly skilled and near constant maintenance. They are not forgiving to those operating them who make mistakes; indeed, mistakes can be lethal. The most optimistic scenario for deploying M1-Abrams tanks in Ukraine is six to eight months, more likely longer. If Russia launches a major offensive in the spring, as expected, the M1 Abrams will not be part of the Ukrainian arsenal. Even when they do arrive, they will not significantly alter the balance of power, especially if the Russians are able to turn the tanks, manned by inexperienced crews, into charred hulks.

So why all this infusion of high-tech weaponry? We can sum it up in one word: panic.

Having declared a de facto war on Russia and openly calling for the removal of Vladimir Putin, the neoconservative pimps of war watch with dread as Ukraine is being pummeled by a relentless Russian war of attrition. Ukraine has suffered nearly 18,000 civilian casualties (6,919 killed and 11,075 injured). It has also seen around 8 percent of its total housing destroyed or damaged and 50 percent of its energy infrastructure directly impacted with frequent power cuts. Ukraine requires at least $3 billion a month in outside support to keep its economy afloat, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director recently said. Nearly 14 million Ukrainians have been displaced — 8 million in Europe and 6 million internally — and up to 18 million people, or 40 percent of Ukraine’s population, will soon require humanitarian assistance. Ukraine’s economy contracted by 35 percent in 2022, and 60 percent of Ukrainians are now poised to live on less than $5.5 a day, according to World Bank estimates. Nine million Ukrainians are without electricity and water in sub-zero temperatures, the Ukrainian president says. According to estimates from the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, 100,000 Ukrainian and 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war as of last November.

“My feeling is we are at a crucial moment in the conflict when the momentum could shift in favor of Russia if we don’t act decisively and quickly,” former U.S. Senator Rob Portman was quoted as saying at the World Economic Forum in a post by The Atlantic Council. “A surge is needed.” Turning logic on its head, the shills for war argue that “the greatest nuclear threat we face is a Russian victory.” The cavalier attitude to a potential nuclear confrontation with Russia by the cheerleaders for the war in Ukraine is very, very frightening, especially given the fiascos they oversaw for twenty years in the Middle East.

The near hysterical calls to support Ukraine as a bulwark of liberty and democracy by the mandarins in Washington are a response to the palpable rot and decline of the U.S. empire. America’s global authority has been decimated by well-publicized war crimes, torture, economic decline, social disintegration — including the assault on the capital on January 6, the botched response to the pandemic, declining life expectancies and the plague of mass shootings — and a series of military debacles from Vietnam to Afghanistan. The coups, political assassinations, election fraud, black propaganda, blackmail, kidnapping, brutal counter-insurgency campaigns, U.S. sanctioned massacres, torture in global black sites, proxy wars and military interventions carried out by the United States around the globe since the end of World War II have never resulted in the establishment of a democratic government. Instead, these interventions have led to over 20 million killed and spawned a global revulsion for U.S. imperialism. ...

The plan to reshape Europe and the global balance of power by degrading Russia is turning out to resemble the failed plan to reshape the Middle East. It is fueling a global food crisis and devastating Europe with near double-digit inflation. It is exposing the impotency, once again, of the United States, and the bankruptcy of its ruling oligarchs. As a counterweight to the United States, nations such as China, Russia, India, Brazil and Iran are severing themselves from the tyranny of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, a move that will trigger economic and social catastrophe in the United States. Washington is giving Ukraine ever more sophisticated weapons systems and billions upon billions in aid in a futile bid to save Ukraine but, more importantly, to save itself.

Top NATO spokesman calls for “wartime economy”

NATO’s top military spokesman called Saturday for members of the US-led military alliance to transition to a “wartime economy” in order to “increase the production in the defense industry.” In the interview, aired Friday on Portugal’s public broadcaster RTP News, Rob Bauer, Chairman of NATO's Military Committee, said the US-led NATO alliance is prepared for a “direct clash with Russia.” These statements follow the announcement last week by the Biden administration that it would deploy M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, and statements by the White House that it is “discussing” sending nuclear-capable F16 jet fighters.

Bauer’s statements make clear that the US-led NATO alliance is actively preparing for the Ukraine war to escalate into a direct clash between the NATO alliance and Russia, both of which are armed with nuclear weapons. At the start of the interview, Bauer stressed that NATO views the conflict with Russia as much broader than the war in Ukraine.

Asked by RTP News, “You don’t believe that it’s only about Ukraine,” Bauer replied “no, it’s about turning back to the old Soviet Union.” The interviewer continued, “so the entire Eastern Flank is at risk somehow?” Bauer replied, “Yeah.” The interviewer asked, “We are ready to [sic] a direct confrontation with Russia?” To this Bauer replied, “we are.” Bauer noted the massive expansion of NATO’s forces in what NATO terms its “eastern flank,” saying:

“...what we have done after the war started was [deploying] the battle groups along the eastern flank, we had four in the north, the three Baltic States and Poland, the enhanced forward presence, battle groups, we have decided now… to create four more battle groups in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. And to basically strengthen those battle groups, make them a little bit larger, give them a little bit more support in terms of fire support, and give them better stocks for ammunition and other things.”

In order to prepare for war with Russia, Bauer declared, “we need to increase the production in the defense industry,” citing the wartime measures taken by the United States during World War II. Bauer continued, “In the first four years in the United States in the Second World War, in the Ford factories, there was no civilian cars made, but only military production…. And that is, in a way, talking about a wartime economy,”

Russia's Bakhmut Ring Tightens, UK MSM Admits Russia Close to Chasov Yar, Russia Advances Vuhledar

More, more, more!

Poland could supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters, Kyiv suggests

Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s most senior adviser has suggested Poland is willing to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters as Ukraine’s lobbying for the combat jets steps up only a few days after Germany and the US agreed to send over their tanks. Andriy Yermak said Ukraine had had “positive signals” from Warsaw in a Telegram posting, although Poland’s prime minister was careful to stress his own country would only act in consultation with Nato allies.

“We coordinate all actions aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defence forces with our Nato partners,” Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference – where he announced plans to lift his country’s defence spending to 4% of GDP – when asked about the jets. Any possible transfer of fighter jets would come “in full coordination” he added.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Monday he would not rule out the delivery of fighter planes to Ukraine but warned against the risk of escalation in the conflict. ...

Ukraine began its lobbying campaign for the US-made jets almost immediately after Germany and the US said they would supply Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks, but this time its effort could be successful more quickly.

Joe Biden said late on Monday that the US would not send F-16s to Ukraine, but added that he would be visiting Poland soon. With the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion on 24 February looming, speculation has grown that the US president could visit Europe in a show of support for the alliance backing Ukraine.

Are the US and Germany now at war with Russia?

Croatian President Warns Sending NATO Tanks to Ukraine Only 'Prolongs the War'

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic became the latest critic to condemn the decision of Western countries, including the United States, to send dozens of tanks to Ukraine to help fight the war against Russia, warning that continued military escalation will not help bring the conflict to an end.

"I am against sending any lethal arms there," Milanovic said at a press conference. "It prolongs the war."

The Biden administration last week announced that it will send more than 30 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, while German officials confirmed they will supply Ukrainian soldiers with 14 Leopard 2 tanks. Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have already dispatched tanks to the country, which was invaded nearly a year ago by Russian forces.

Conservative British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last week that the continued military support for Ukraine will "ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace," but peace advocates have long said that countries including the U.S. must prioritize promoting diplomacy between Ukraine and Russia.

The Stop the War Coalition in the U.K. announced an upcoming demonstration last week following the announcement by the U.S. and Germany, saying, "Arming Ukraine and sending tanks is a step further away from negotiation."

In October, progressives in the U.S. House said in a letter to Biden that "the alternative to diplomacy is protracted war" before distancing themselves from the statement under pressure. The White House has resisted calls to aggressively push for peaceful negotiations even from Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

Milanovic's most recent comments follow his accusation earlier this month that the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO) are fighting a "proxy war against Russia through Ukraine."

"What is the goal of this war?" Milanovic asked on Monday. "A war against a nuclear power that is at war in another country? Is there a conventional way to defeat such a country?"

He also predicted that European countries will "pay the price" for becoming militarily involved in the way and that Europe will ultimately pour more resources into the effort to end the war through military might.

"America pays the least," he said. "Not a single American tank will go to Ukraine in a year. Only German tanks will be sent there."

Last week, he expressed hope in a television interview that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are ongoing.

"Supplies of Western tanks to Ukraine will extend the war. If America and Russia don't agree, and that's not in sight so far, the war won't be over," he toldN1. "I hope that some talks are going on, otherwise we are inching toward the Third World War."

Zelensky PLEADS For More Weapons As Europe Says 'NOTHING IS EXCLUDED,' Including Fighter Jets

Russia Accuses Ukraine of Killing 14 in Hospital Strike Using US-Provided HIMARS

On Saturday, Russia accused Ukrainian forces of killing 14 people and injuring 25 in a strike on a hospital in the eastern Luhansk oblast using US-provided HIMARS rocket systems.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the strike took place in the town of Novoaidar and called it a “deliberate” attack on civilians. “A deliberate missile strike against a known functioning civilian medical facility is without doubt a serious war crime by the Kiev regime,” the Defense Ministry said. ...

Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, said the US was “directly complicit” in the alleged strike. “As we know from Ukrainian officials, the targets of HIMARS are agreed by Washington,” Polyansky said.

U.S. General Predicts WAR With China By 2025!

'War Is Clearly Back on the Agenda': US Says Israel Was Behind the Drone Attack on Iran

Unnamed U.S. officials on Sunday confirmed suspicions that Israel was behind the weekend drone attack on a purported military facility in the Iranian city of Isfahan, heightening concerns that the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is gearing up for a broader assault on Iran as international nuclear talks remain at a standstill.

The New York Times reported that the drone attack—which Iran says it mostly thwarted—was "the work of the Mossad, Israel's premier intelligence agency, according to senior intelligence officials who were familiar with the dialogue between Israel and the United States about the incident."

"American officials quickly sent out word on Sunday morning that the United States was not responsible for the attack," the Times noted. "One official confirmed that it had been conducted by Israel but did not have details about the target."

The Times added that the "facility that was struck on Saturday was in the middle of the city and did not appear to be nuclear-related."

The Wall Street Journal also reported Sunday that Israel carried out the attack, which was launched hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East for planned trips to Israel, Egypt, and the occupied West Bank.

Last week, CIA Director William Burns made an unannounced trip to Israel to discuss "Iran and other regional issues," according to the Journal.

Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), said in a statement that he is "deeply concerned by the gathering clouds of war in the Middle East."

"This latest act of sabotage conducted via a military attack inside Iran is a dangerous escalation and should be cause for concern for everyone who opposes war," said Abdi. "War will only further empower the most violent and repressive forces inside Iran at the expense of ordinary Iranians demanding freedom, and will embolden reactionary elements in Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S."

France pension reform strikes: Thousands take to the streets in Paris

Jair Bolsonaro applies for six-month tourist visa to stay in US

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing investigation as part of an inquiry into an alleged attempt to topple the country’s government, has filed a request for a six-month visitor visa to stay in the US.

The former leader is understood to have entered the US on an A-1 visa reserved for sitting heads of state, which would expire on Tuesday, 30 days from the end of his presidential term.

On Monday, a California-based law firm known for its work with Brazilians said that Bolsonaro had requested a six-month visa to stay in the US.

Marxist Economist Richard Wolff on How the Debt Ceiling Benefits the Rich & Powerful

Wall Street Plots PROFITS From Debt Ceiling Crisis

Biden will announce end of national and public health Covid emergencies in May

Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing Covid-19 on 11 May, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared.

The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies’ normal authorities.

It comes as lawmakers have already ended elements of the emergencies that kept millions of Americans insured during the pandemic. Combined with the drawdown of most federal Covid-19 relief money, it would also shift the development of vaccines and treatments away from the direct management of the federal government.

The president’s announcement comes in a statement opposing resolutions being brought to the floor this week by House Republicans to bring the emergency to an immediate end. House Republicans are also gearing up to launch investigations on the federal government’s response to Covid-19.

1,300+ US Groups Demand Atlanta Mayor's Resignation Over Forest Defender Tortuguita's Killing

A coalition of more than 1,300 climate and racial justice groups from across the United States on Monday joined a call for an independent investigation into the police killing of forest defender Manuel Paez Terán earlier this month, and demanded the resignation of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

Nearly two weeks after the fatal shooting of the 26-year-old activist and medic—known as Tortuguita—Dickens "has still failed to condemn the killing," said the groups, and has instead opted "to condemn protestors and parrot the rhetoric of extreme right-wing governor Brian Kemp."

Tortuguita was shot and killed on January 18 when a joint task force including Atlanta police officers raided an encampment at Weelaunee forest. The forest is the site of a proposed $90 million police training facility known as Cop City.

Over the weekend Dickens, a Democrat, condemned people who have protested Tortuguita's killing in Atlanta, accusing protesters of traveling to the city to "wreak havoc" at demonstrations that were overwhelmingly peaceful.

"Within a few hours of the shooting, Dickens tweeted support for [an] injured state trooper and completely ignored the death at the hands of a task force which included Atlanta police officers on his watch," wrote the groups, which include People vs. Fossil Fuels, Jewish Voice for Peace, Climate Justice Alliance, and Oil Change International. "As a growing number of Atlanta residents, national and global news outlets, and human rights and environmental organizations worldwide call for an investigation of the police narrative of Tortuguita's death, Dickens has dismissed their concerns. He has refused to bring any scrutiny to the one-sided and unsubstantiated recounting of events. Dickens has yet to offer condolences to the slain protestor's family."

The groups noted that Dickens and the Atlanta City Council have the authority to terminate the land lease for Cop City in the forest and called for the mayor to do so immediately, denouncing his strong support for the Atlanta Police Foundation's proposal.

"His championing of Cop City occurs against the backdrop of a continued investment in the gentrification of Atlanta and a continued disinvestment of affordable housing for a city identified as having the country's highest level of wealth inequality," said the groups. "Mayor Dickens can somehow find $90 million dollars for Cop City, one third of which will come from taxpayer money. Still, he can't find money to keep our already overwhelmed hospitals open or to finance much-needed affordable housing."

Ikiya Collective, a signatory of the letter, noted that the training slated to take place at Cop City "will impact organizing across the country" as police are trained to respond to popular uprisings.

"This is a national issue," said the collective. "Climate justice and police brutality are interconnected, which is why we are joining the Stop Cop City calls to action with the frontline communities in Atlanta."

"It is imperative that we demand an independent investigation into the police murder of Manuel 'Tortuguita' Paez Terán," said Ikiya Collective. "We join calls for the termination of the lease and for Mayor Dickens' resignation."

“Elite” Police Units Face More Scrutiny as Memphis SCORPION Unit Disbanded over Tyre Nichols Death

Sixth Memphis police officer removed from duty after Tyre Nichols death

A sixth officer involved in the death of Tyre Nichols has been removed from duty, police said, as an influential group of Black elected officials has called for a meeting with Joe Biden to discuss police reform. Officer Preston Hemphill, who is white, was relieved of duty and put on what is known as administrative leave, Memphis police major Karen Rudolph said on Monday, according to multiple reports.

Rudolph stopped short of saying what role Hemphill had at the scene of Nichols’ deadly beating or whether he would be charged with a crime in connection with the killing as several other officers have been. But Rudolph said that the investigation into Nichols’ death remained ongoing, and “more information will be shared as it develops”. ...

Hemphill was the third officer at a traffic stop that preceded the violent arrest but was not at the scene where Nichols was beaten, his lawyer Lee Gerald said. ...

Also on Monday, fire department officials announced the firing of emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge and Lt Michelle Whitaker in connection with Nichols’ death.

Fire chief Gina Sweat said in a statement that the department received a call from police to respond to a report of a person who had been pepper-sprayed, and the workers arrived as Nichols was handcuffed and leaning up against a squad car. Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols”, the statement said. Whitaker and the driver remained in the vehicle.

Barrett Strong, singer, songwriter and Motown’s first star, dies aged 81

Barrett Strong, a singer and songwriter who rose to fame as the vocalist on Motown’s first hit single Money (That’s What I Want), has died, aged 81. The news was confirmed on Monday by the Motown Museum; no cause of death was given.

Born in Mississippi in 1941 but raised in Detroit, Strong was one of the first artists to be signed by the future Motown maven Berry Gordy. He began recording for Gordy’s label, Tamla Records, in the late 1950s, and in 1960 his recording of the Gordy-penned Money (That’s What I Want) became the first hit for either artist. Peaking at No 2 on the R&B singles chart and No 23 on the Hot 100, Money came to define the early years of Motown, and was later recorded by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Although Money was a huge hit for the company and for Strong, the track’s credits were subject to great dispute throughout Strong’s whole career. Strong himself contended that he co-wrote the song with Gordy and songwriter Janie Bradford, while Gordy has consistently denied this, saying Strong was only involved in the recording. When it was initially registered for copyright, Strong was listed as one of the track’s writers; in a 2013 New York Times feature about Strong’s fight for recognition, representatives for Gordy stated that this was a clerical error, although session musicians present during the song’s recording said that Strong wrote the track’s iconic piano riff and guitar lines. “Songs outlive people,” Strong told the NYT. “The real money is in the publishing, and if you have publishing, then hang on to it … If you give it away, you’re giving away your life, your legacy.”

Although Money was a hit, Strong found that he wasn’t earning enough money to support his family, so in the early 60s he briefly began working on the factory floor at Chrysler. In the mid-60s, he returned to Motown as a staff songwriter, and with producer Norman Whitfield wrote many of the company’s most iconic tracks, including I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, and War. The pair’s partnership with the Temptations, in particular, yielded a string of extremely successful, beloved tracks; in 1973, he was awarded the Grammy for best R&B song for Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.



the horse race



KAMALA May Be Dropped 2024 Ticket

New York DA revives investigation into Trump’s hush money payments to Stormy Daniels

Prosecutors are to present a grand jury with evidence about hush money payments made by Donald Trump, the former US president, to adult film actor and producer Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign, it was reported on Monday.

The surprise move by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney in New York, revives a long-running investigation that appeared to be drifting and raises the threat of criminal charges, adding to Trump’s already daunting legal troubles.

The report from the New York Times newspaper came two days after the ex-president became the first candidate to hit the 2024 election campaign trail, delivering speeches in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Daniels, who was born Stephanie Clifford but professes to prefer her stage name, claims to have had sex with Trump in Nevada in 2006 when he was already married to Melania Trump. He denied the allegation but in 2016 his longtime fixer Michael Cohen made a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels, which Trump reimbursed.



the evening greens


US renewable energy farms outstrip 99% of coal plants economically – study

Coal in the US is now being economically outmatched by renewables to such an extent that it’s more expensive for 99% of the country’s coal-fired power plants to keep running than it is to build an entirely new solar or wind energy operation nearby, a new analysis has found. The plummeting cost of renewable energy, which has been supercharged by last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, means that it is cheaper to build an array of solar panels or a cluster of new wind turbines and connect them to the grid than it is to keep operating all of the 210 coal plants in the contiguous US, bar one, according to the study.

“Coal is unequivocally more expensive than wind and solar resources, it’s just no longer cost competitive with renewables,” said Michelle Solomon, a policy analyst at Energy Innovation, which undertook the analysis. “This report certainly challenges the narrative that coal is here to stay.”

The new analysis, conducted in the wake of the $370bn in tax credits and other support for clean energy passed by Democrats in last summer’s Inflation Reduction Act, compared the fuel, running and maintenance cost of America’s coal fleet with the building of new solar or wind from scratch in the same utility region.

On average, the marginal cost for the coal plants is $36 each megawatt hour, while new solar is about $24 each megawatt hour, or about a third cheaper. Only one coal plant – Dry Fork in Wyoming – is cost competitive with the new renewables. “It was a bit surprising to find this,” said Solomon. “It shows that not only have renewables dropped in cost, the Inflation Reduction Act is accelerating this trend.”

Coal, which is a heavily carbon-intensive fuel and responsible for 60% of planet-heating emissions from electricity generation, once formed the backbone of the American grid, generating enough power to light up 186m homes at its peak in 2007. However, by 2021 this output had dropped by 55%, while jobs in the coal mining sector have more than halved over the past decade, to less than 40,000.

Earth is on track to exceed 1.5C warming in the next decade, study using AI finds

The world is on the brink of breaching a critical climate threshold, according to a new study published on Monday, signifying time is running exceedingly short to spare the world the most catastrophic effects of global heating.

Using artificial intelligence to predict warming timelines, researchers at Stanford University and Colorado State University found that 1.5C of warming over industrial levels will probably be crossed in the next decade. The study also shows the Earth is on track to exceed 2C warming,which international scientists identified as a tipping point, with a 50% chance the grave benchmark would be met by mid-century.

“We have very clear evidence of the impact on different ecosystems from the 1C of global warming that’s already happened,” said Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh, who co-authored the study with atmospheric scientist Elizabeth Barnes. “This new study, using a new method, adds to the evidence that we certainly will face continuing changes in climate that intensify the impacts we are already feeling.”

Utilizing a neural network, or a type of AI that recognizes relationships in vast sets of data, the scientists trained the system to analyze a wide array of global climate model simulations and then asked it to determine timelines for given temperature thresholds.

The model found a nearly 70% chance that the two-degree threshold would be crossed between 2044 and 2065, even if emissions rapidly decline. To check the AI’s prediction prowess, they also entered historical measurements and asked the system to evaluate current levels of heating already noted. Using data from 1980 to 2021, the AI passed the test, correctly homing in on both the 1.1C warming reached by 2022 and the patterns and pace observed in recent decades.


Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

This Time It’s Different

Why, Despite RAND’s Recommendation, the Ukraine War Is Unlikely to End in a Negotiated Settlement

Size Matters - On A U.S. Ground Intervention In Ukraine

Air Force General Predicts the US Will Be at War With China in 2025

Pompeo: A Monster Slaying Monsters Abroad

New senator JD Vance leads GOP effort to put Ukraine aid under a microscope

New Campaign Aims to Fight Off GOP Threats to Social Security and Medicare

75 Year Ukraine War Warnings COMES TRUE

Used Car Market IMPLODES As Carvana Faces Doom

Michael Malice Brings Anarchy To The Jimmy Dore Show

Ukrainian refugees too racist for liberal UK hosts

Hamilton 68 list of Russian bots exposed as massive fraud

German Greens, the world's most hypocritical party?

Zelensky to sell Ukraine off to Blackrock, Goldman Sachs


A Little Night Music

Albert Washington w/ Lonnie Mack- Having a Good Time

Albert Washington - Bring It On Up

Albert Washington w/ Lonnie Mack- Turn on the Bright Lights

Albert Washington - Case of the blues

Albert Washington - Doggin' Me Around

Albert Washington - Loosen These Pains And Let Me Go

Albert Washington w/ Lonnie Mack- I'm Gonna Pour Me A Drink

Albert Washington - Steal Away

Albert Washington - Somewhere Down The Line

Albert Washington - You're Messing Up My Mind

Albert Washington - Woman Love


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9 users have voted.

Comments

child. I want tanks, I want jets, I want submarines as he rants indefinitely.
Is it too late for an adult to spank this child and explain no
in uncertain terms?

thanks for the tunes and headliners!

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7 users have voted.

@QMS

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

heh, well, either he's an overindulged brat or a double agent working for putin to destroy the west's materiel, economies and social will to follow leadership into a fight.

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4 users have voted.

on American troops in Afghanistan.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/15/russia-afghanistan-bounties-psa...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday there is not strong evidence that Russia allegedly offered bounties to the Taliban to target U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.

Psaki said a review by the intelligence committee conducted in the wake of explosive news reports last year about the allegation determined its veracity with only “low-to-moderate confidence.”

The press secretary said that assessment was due to the information coming from detainee reportings and the “challenging operating environment in Afghanistan.”

“It’s challenging to gather this intelligence and this data,” Psaki said during the daily press briefing. “While there is low-to-moderate assessment in these reports, we felt it was important for our intelligence community to look into it.”

Well this time the bounties are real!

https://www.defensemirror.com/news/33557/Russian_Regional_Governor_Offer...

Russia's Trans-Baikal Regional government has offered a bounty of upto three million rubles ($43,000) for capturing or eliminating NATO tanks during the current war with Ukraine, the region’s Governor Alexander Osipov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Tuesday.
Ospipov signed a decree authorizing payment ranging from 100,000 rubles ( $1,400) to 3 mln rubles ( $43,000) for participating in the elimination or capture of NATO tanks such as Abrams and Leopard. The payments will be made from the region's budget.
The maximum payout will be provided to any serviceman who captures an operational Leopard tank. That said, the document recommends troops contain their bravery if it jeopardizes the implementation of combat tasks.
"We’ll see what happens - whether these payments will happen, what their volume will be. I think that there are definitely funds in the regional budget for the first payments. If it suddenly turns out that a lot [of tanks] are being burned, in this case we’ll see and get [residents] involved [to raise funds]," the governor said.
In the Trans-Baikal Region, mobilized residents receive a lump-sum payment of 150,000 rubles (over $2,100) each. Additionally, the families of the special military operation’s participants in the region are exempt from paying kindergarten fees while schoolchildren receive subsidized meals.

However a clarification has to be made.

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8 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

heh, i get the feeling that we're not going to hear much about these russian bounties, especially if they are paid out.

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3 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

the chance to win the war is beyond me. Russia has already destroyed thousands of tanks Ukraine had before the war and its military jets too.

Ukraine’s materiel losses are equally severe. These include thousands of tanks and armored infantry fighting vehicles, artillery systems, air defense platforms, and weapons of all calibers. These totals include the equivalent of seven years of Javelin missile production. In a setting where Russian artillery systems can fire nearly 60,000 rounds of all types—rockets, missiles, drones, and hard-shell ammunition—a day, Ukrainian forces are hard-pressed to answer these Russian salvos with 6,000 rounds daily. New platform and ammunition packages for Ukraine may enrich the Washington community, but they cannot change these conditions.

That equipment was gone within months after Russia crossed the border and even more were destroyed when NATO countries emptied their reserves. 150,000 dead and 35,000 more MIA and now 60 year olds and women are being thrown into the death ranks. If you have no people living in one’s country then just what is the fighting for? This war is just as abhorrent as the first Iraq war when the military slaughtered 10,000 Iraqis returning home and was a blatant war crime by the way it was done.

The only war that would be good for the people is a war on poverty here at home and we can turn the business economy to war footing to make sure that it’s accomplished.

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9 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

14 tanks aren't going to do much, even if they are replaced by future waves of 14 tanks each, which is what it looks like is going to happen.

the weapons donations at this point appear to be mostly for show, with the western powers doing their best to stall deliveries until after the inevitable. i mean, do you really think that if biden was really motivated he couldn't have 31 abrams tanks on ukraine's border in a week?

war on poverty. hmmm... where have i heard that before? or was it a war on the impoverished?

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snoopydawg's picture

HuffPoo wants people to be totally outraged about this.

0718D4FF-CA77-4D72-ABB6-A874549BF5E3.jpeg

But why is it hypocritical IMO?

While Ron DeSantis Is Fighting Culture Wars, Millions Of Floridians Are Losing Their Health Care

But DeSantis has some other governing responsibilities, too. One of them is looking out for the health and economic well-being of Florida residents, including those who can’t pay for medical care on their own because they don’t have insurance.

Florida has quite a lot of them ― nearly 2.6 million as of 2021, according to the most recent U.S. census figures. That’s about 12% of its population, which is well above the national average of 8.6%. It’s also more than all but four other states.

Floridians without insurance suffer because when they can’t pay for their medical care, they end up in debt or go without needed treatment or both. The state suffers, too, because it ends up with a sicker, less productive workforce as well as a higher charity care load for its hospitals, clinics and other pieces of the medical safety net.

DeSantis could do something about this. He has refused. In fact, as of this moment, his administration is embarking on a plan that some analysts worry could make the problem worse.

This story probably deserves some national attention as well.

Well because when Obama and democrats had the chance to give every American health care like they ran on for decades they happily refused to do so and passed the hideously flawed ACA that only allowed 30% to buy it. Biden swore that even if congress passed MFA he would veto it. And once the Covid emergency expires millions of people will be thrown off Medicaid and I’m not seeing any outrage by this author or the shitlibs that gave Obama a pass for not even trying to pass MFA. Nor could democrats give poor kids free lunches or extend the child tax credit and again the shitlibs have just moved on like they have with their outrage of kids in cages and numerous other things that democrats run on doing only to let the parliamentarian tell them no or finding a new rotating villain. But sure everyone should be pissed at only DeSantis and not the other republican governors who refuse to give people MFA. And if one city in the country gets it from birth then how is that not discrimination against the rest of the country? Lots of states have environmental catastrophes and should qualify for it, but….we just can’t afford it or afford to let everyone live inside, but plenty of money for one war after another.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

yeah, but don't the demlicans and republicrats make some great villians to hate and talk about as they go on stealing from us?

gives us all something to do besides invest in rope futures.

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Absolute revelations by Tabbi and others about Deep State control over Twitter and exposure of Hamilton 68 which spawned according to Matt thousands of anti-Russian articles, and articles using the Russians to attack anti-establishment movements. Even the Columbia School of Journalism is getting into the act debunking the entire swamp of bullshit (and from what I see before of some of their conferences, they are wildly anti-Russian).

It is in large part why I was permanently kicked off TOP for not believing the bullshit. It was during this time that the permanent staff wrote daily diaries keeping Russiagate front and center to the choir. Make sure the choir does not stray.

But here is the thing. Changes nothing from what I can tell. The Russians were blamed for the Swedish guy burning Koran, and letter bombs in Spain. From NYT.

Russian Agents Suspected of Directing Far-Right Group to Mail Bombs in Spain
U.S. officials say the operation may be a signal by Russia that the country and its proxies could carry out more terrorist actions in Europe if nations continue supporting Ukraine.

From Guardian.
Burning of Qur’an in Stockholm funded by journalist with Kremlin ties

It ain't gonna stop no matter how much anti-Russia propaganda has been debunked.

The press versus the president, part four

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joe shikspack's picture

@MrWebster

yep, the ruling class' stenographic lackeys have discovered a universal suspect for every ill event or effect from climate change to a stack of dirty dishes in the sink - suspected russian agents!

hell, i think they've been leaving dust and dog hair in my house!

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snoopydawg's picture

This is why K-hive is so pissed with Warren.

Nope no misogyny in these tweets.

Just say word salads.

"it doesn't help that she's not [that] adept as a communicator."

Some Democrats are worried about Harris's political prospects

Harris's tenure has been underwhelming, they said, marked by struggles as a communicator and at times near-invisibility, leaving many rank-and-file Democrats unpersuaded that she has the force, charisma and skill to mount a winning presidential campaign.

(Ehh?)

Harris's office declined to comment for this story. But her supporters note that she remains one of the nation's highest-profile Democrats, in demand at events and rallies across the country. And she has begun traveling more to advocate on the administration's push to protect abortion access, an effort that could give her a bigger platform.

Harris's critics also question her basic political skills on the national stage. In 2016, she won her Senate seat against weak opposition, they say. In 2019, her presidential run ended before a single ballot was cast, doomed by an uneven performance on the campaign trail, weak support, faltering resources and turmoil among her advisers. (Umm didn’t she not get a single delegate?)

But Harris's low profile has also been a reflection of her team's calculus - and fears - following missteps and shaky public appearances. Her first international trip, to Guatemala and Mexico, was colored by an exchange with Lester Holt of NBC News in which she awkwardly downplayed the urgency of visiting the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg

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@humphrey Thwnks for dropping in. I needed a laugh after my day of 2 court appearances.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

perhaps those misogynistic twitter snake emojis will once again bedevil warren. Smile

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his constant panhandling.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-01-31/u-s-readies-2-bill...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is readying more than $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time and other munitions and weapons, two U.S. officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The weapons aid is expected to be announced as soon as later this week, the officials said. It is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defense systems, precision guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added.

One of the officials said that a portion of the package, $1.725 billion, would come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows President Joe Biden's administration to get weapons from industry rather than from existing U.S. weapons stocks.

The USAI funds would go toward the purchase of a new weapon, Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which have a range of 94 miles (150 km). The United States has rebuffed requests for the 185-mile (297-km) range ATACMS missile.

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@humphrey must be wondering at all the excitement about who is sending what to Ukraine.

Surely they are saying to themselves and each other---wtf----we burned all the tanks that were in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Air Force has been destroyed...Sure send over whatever you've got. We will take care of it.

Way too many people have died for this military misadventure.

I want it to end as soon as possible. Some of our favorite analysts say a major Russian offensive is near. is that true? IDK.

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NYCVG

@NYCVG Is for Russians to go back to Russia. No one invited them to invade Ukraine. If Russia even begins to start returning to their own country I bet the fighting would stop. It's 2023, countries don't invade neighbors anymore.

On a more positive note I remember Scott Ritter saying a couple of weeks ago that Russia was making 7km advances per day, they should be in Kiev any day now.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@ban nock

If the Russians just "go back to Russia", they will be hotly pursued by NATO-backed and NATO-funded (which really means US-backed and funded) Ukrainian troops, and don't kid yourself that they won't.

The USA wants nothing more than to return to the glory days of Yeltsin, when Russia was helplessly open to Western pillaging - unless it's to smash Russia into multiple little countries that can be gobbled up at will.

That IS the plan, as explicitly stated by some of the worst of the war pigs in the US government.

There are times when I think the country most in need of "regime change" is the USA.

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5 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

@TheOtherMaven matches your.

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3 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@TheOtherMaven

and underwear, sneakers and funders.
This pro-war nonsense has to end eventually.
Won't be pretty.

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@TheOtherMaven to a post I hoped was a joke.

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NYCVG

snoopydawg's picture

@ban nock

in the Donbas which they were doing with approval from NATO and it’s what forced Russia to cross the border to protect them. How do you still not know that after 11 months of being told that Russia didn’t start the war? Unless you are cool with genocide for people who don’t want to be ruled by Nazis? You can read how the guardian once abhorred the Nazis here unless you just don’t want to learn the truth?

But I’m betting you will be back next week with your inane and simple minded comment that this can end if Russia goes home that you just repeat over and over. Who gives a damn if more civilians get killed right?

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joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

i'll post it tomorrow, news is that the u.s. and u.k. have decided (at least for this week) that they won't send f-16's. i guess they want to look like they're escalating some.

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enhydra lutris's picture

Seems like domestic party politics is taking up more and more of the daily news, my emails and my postal mail. I personally do not find that to be a good thing or a good omen. Beyond that, I see indications that the dems, or many of them, are planning to once again run against Trump and or Putin. It's going to be a loong drawn out, sorry, sad, and stupid year. My head already hurts.

be well and have a good one

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

yep, it looks like the 2024 voting pageant is upon us, with all of the usual suspects dressing up in their best evening gowns and talking about their big plans for everybody and their special talents. my email runneth over already, too.

thank the fsm for the delete key.

have a great evening!

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@enhydra lutris Orgs.
All they want is donations.
My husband and brother are in the dentist stuff and things mode. They get relief at a price. High price. But, they need to bite, chew. And be handsome. Be well, be handsome, friend.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

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joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

thanks for the link!

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4 users have voted.
soryang's picture

...about operating combat maneuver forces like tanks and armored fighting vehicles are insightful.

I wrote these notes the other day, I don't remember whether I posted them or not: Without the support vehicles, their crews, maintenance, fuel, and spare parts, the tanks and other armor provided will end up scattered and immobile. Without the attendant mobile support that more or less has to move along with the tanks, or at least be at hand not too far away, the tanks will suffer attrition even without combat. The effort to move a battalion or larger sized armored maneuver unit is so great it is preferrable to preposition the equipment, or leave it in place once deployed. This in fact is current US doctrine as far as I know.

To assist Ukraine by moving these armor units into a combat zone where the infrastructure is already compromised by repeated Russian attacks is the least desirable situation, although in theory this is what armored forces are supposed to do. There is actually a panoply of other specialized equipment necessary to support armored combat maneuver forces, tank and armor transporters, fuel trucks, and specialized heavy tow vehicles to pull tanks out of ditches and culverts when the road bed collapses, or get stuck in the mud. Just the physical movement to the front is challenging enough.

The thought occurred to me: if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a small city to support an armored battalion or a small number of fighter aircraft. Speaking in terms of sending 14 tanks or 50 tanks or whatever is so misleading. Only civilians and reporters who are clueless or dishonest can report on these commitments in such a simplistic and misleading manner. The same thing goes for F-16s or other military combat aircraft. A complement of F-16s requires hundreds of support personnel.

According to Fletcher Prouty, it was the support infrastructure necessary for US army helicopters in Vietnam that lead to an open ended US war commitment. The support base or bases and their personnel become the obvious targets. So wouldn't F-16s have to operate from outside Ukraine say in Poland? Or is the US training all the various necessary combat tech specialties to Ukrainian soldiers or airman to provide the organizational unit that operates and maintains the F-16s inside Ukraine? That won't survive long. It isn't just about the aircraft and pilots. What's the next escalation after that?

Thanks for the news roundup JS. This was my big adventure for the day:

My wife was going through one of 2 small antique chests that didn't get destroyed in the storm. She found some documents her grandfather had given her at least 50 years ago. He was a minor Seonbi (scholar). The family legend is that grandfather spent all his time reading and doing calligraphy and other than preparing such works, wasn't much at business or working.

I was amazed to find out, that one of these works was a hand made copy grandfather had made of probably the most famous 16th Century work by Yi Hwang a great Korean neo-Confucian scholar. The title is Sanghakshipdo, ( 성학십도 ( 聖學十圖 ) The Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning.

I can't translate Chinese, so I went online to learn more about this. There is an annotated English translation (1988) by Michael Kalton, titled To Become a Sage- The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning. Google Books has much of this remarkable book online but it's not complete. I've already started reading it.

Yi Hwang (1501-1570), better known by his pen name T'oegye, is generally considered Korea's preeminent Neo-Confucian scholar. The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning is his final masterpiece, a distillation of the learning and practice of a lifetime, and one of the most important works of Korean Neo-Confucianism. In it he crystallized the essence of Neo-Confucian philosophy and spiritual practice in ten brief chapters that begin with the grand vision of the universe and conclude with a description of a well-lived day. In To Become a Sage, Michael Kalton supplements a superb translation of this pivotal text with useful commentary that will greatly enhance its value...

from Google Books

https://www.google.com/books/edition/To_Become_a_Sage/u-plsxlTFUwC?hl=en...

The introduction describes the ideological developments in Chinese history, Confucianism v Buddhism, etc., and then the later somewhat similar process in Korean history.

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語必忠信 行必正直

@soryang

https://www.rt.com/news/570729-pentagon-korea-tabletop-nuclear-drills/

Pentagon chief makes nuclear pledge to Asian ally
Washington and Seoul will conduct “tabletop exercises focused on nuclear threats”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to South Korea, promising to deploy the full range of US conventional and nuclear military capabilities if needed to deter what he described as increasingly “destabilizing” actions by North Korea.

In an editorial published by Yonhap news agency on Tuesday amid his third visit to Seoul as US defense chief, Austin claimed that only the presence of thousands of American troops and the “most advanced” military assets has ensured seven decades of peace on the peninsula – and said the sides are constantly exploring ways to boost their “deterrence activities.”

“That is why we are expanding the scope and scale of our combined exercises… It’s why we’re incorporating live-fire elements, which will increase our interoperability and readiness to ‘Fight Tonight’ if necessary,” Austin wrote.

“We are committed to doing even more, including increasingly complex scenario-based tabletop exercises focused on nuclear threats on the peninsula and visits to US strategic sites housing our most advanced capabilities to demonstrate the role these capabilities may play in crisis or conflict,” he added, providing no time frame for the drills.

The US maintains a force of around 28,500 soldiers in South Korea and holds regular drills with Seoul, which have been denounced by Pyongyang as “provocations” and “rehearsals” for a potential invasion. Last year, North Korea stepped up its missile tests and has enshrined the use of nuclear weapons into national law.

Austin claimed that Pyongyang’s military activities only further prove the need to “remain vigilant” and increase joint exercises not only with Seoul but also with Tokyo, and warned all regional “adversaries and competitors” that “if they challenge one of us, they are challenging the... alliance as a whole.”

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soryang's picture

@humphrey ...at home, to support his hopeless lack of public support with VIP visits from the west that have two objectives. First Stoltenberg, now Austin.

1. Enlist South Korea's substantial military, industrial, and technical resources in another misguided application of NATO type expansionism. There are several elements to this enlist South Korea in the "Indo-Pacific strategy;" get South Korea to submit to Japanese foreign policy goals, aka the politics of humiliation; enlist South Korea's arms production complex to support the Ukraine war and replacement of NATO inventories in Eastern Europe. It isn't clear whether NATO is being expanded to the Far East, or whether the US is attempting to create another NATO in the Far East. Originally, the latter was the concept, but now that South Korea has some vague status as a "NATO partner" it's gives the impression of a world wide NATO expansion.

2. Try to legitimize Yoon's embarrassing gaffe's about bringing nuclear arms to South Korea which show an intent to violate the NPT and making it seem as if he knows what he is doing which he doesn't. It also legitimizes the US refusal to release wartime OPCON control of the Combined Forces Command to South Korea which has been an ongoing issue in the alliance. The impression that the Ukraine war is creating in the Far East generally, but most importantly in South Korea and Japan, is that in the event of open warfare, the US might not come to their aid. This is a view promoted by the far right elements of both states who want nuclear weapons.

I cobbled together a post called "Screwing up the Tension" about a month ago, where I described the tit for tat escalatory military policy being followed by the US and unwisely adopted by Yoon in South Korea. Yoon's domestic policies are known as "revenge politics." This is pretty much all he understands as prosecutor with no foreign policy or military experience. Provocation, threats, retaliation, and revenge are his foreign policy trademark. The US and Yoon have made the situation worse on the Korean peninsula with all their military moves. Yoon is essentially incompetent.

There were almost continuous large joint miliary exercises in 2022 since the spring, involving the return of so called US strategic assets like strategic bombers and an aircraft carrier strike group to South Korea. There were also huge US-ROK joint military air operations involving 240 combat aircraft over South Korea. So all the tacit promises made by the US at the Singapore summit are gone. I made this additional note to my post:

During the Hoguk training exercise, South Korea conducted artillery exercises near Paju, and the US fired tactical missiles in Cheoran county, also close to the DMZ. If not violations of the Sep 2018 military agreement between North and South Korea, they violated the spirit of the agreement, and were part of a pattern of escalatory military moves by North and South Korea and and the United States. S.Korea begins major Hoguk field training exercise amid N.Korea’s saber-rattling, Oct. 17 Korea Herald, https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221017000637

https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2022/12/screwing-up-tension...

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語必忠信 行必正直

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

snoopydawg's picture

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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@snoopydawg As far as I could tell, it's not much of a rebuttal; I'm not even entirely sure I see the point, save that that first op-ed was somehow just another trick - which it certainly could be, but I missed the part where he actually said something I don't know.

Maybe the problem is that I don't know what "a limited hangout" is?

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

TheOtherMaven's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat @The Liberal Moonbat

to avoid telling the *whole* truth.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@TheOtherMaven What, then, is the whole truth in this case - or rather, what specifically would NEWSWEEK be omitting?

I'm afraid snoopydawg's rebuttal-piece just read to me like generic suspicion, and that's no good.

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1 user has voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!