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I hate to jump on bandwagons, but for the senseless attack by Czar Vladimir on Ukraine, risking a wider European if not global war; for the courage of the everyday citizens who have vowed to defend their sovereignty; for the fierce resistance Ukraine's military has put up against a vastly larger and better-equipped force; for the defiance of President Voldymyr Zelensky, who hasn't fled, knowing he will almost certainly be killed if the Russian army takes Kyiv; for the Russians who protest this war, facing arrest, or worse; for the Russian journalists who have not toed the line; for the Russian woman arrested for carrying a blank sign; for the old Ukrainian woman who offered Russian soldiers seeds to carry so that where they fall, flowers will grow....As the Russian would-be blitzkrieg gets bogged down by stiff resistance, unfavorable ground conditions, poor logistics and surprisingly bad strategic decisions, this has ceased to be a precise war against a military opponent, but the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, including the elderly, children, pregnant women...you know, the very elite of the Ukrainian Military.
Well, call me a sucker for a good old-fashioned fight against tyranny, but I post the links below for whatever they're worth. How many Ukrainian civilians, scores of children among them, need to die to satisfy Putin's imperial ambitions? How many Ukrainian soldiers have died, how many hapless Russians soldiers lie face down in the mud -- kids my son's age -- who probably don't want to be there in the first place? Will my adoptive country (France) be drawn into this fiasco? Will my home country get involved in another war after 20+ years of pointless fighting in Afghanistan? I am pretty much a pacifist. I do not glorify war and rarely buy into the idea of a "just" war. But defending a country whose only crime is wanting to be free from the impaled-pie thumb of a gangster state led by a disillusioned, former KGB agent who openly dreams of restoring Mother Russia's imperial "glory" -- dominating the Eastern Europe for the sake of his bruised ego after the demise of the Soviet Union? Well, that is as close as it comes to a just cause
The plight, pluck, and tenacity of Ukraine has stirred me. There may be corruption there, injustices, and their own government less than perfect. But they don't deserve what Putin has inflicted upon them. Certainly not the scared children huddled in the metros and basements as the missiles reduce their cities to rubble. I'm an unfit old dude who fights about as well as I can fly by flapping my arms, and I'd probably last a day under such conditions, yet I feel compelled to do something, even if it is only linking to places where you can help by opening your wallets or, if you're brave and qualified enough, to go and fight. I always admired the Lincoln Brigades: the American Reds (oh, the irony), Anarchists and Wobblies who went to Spain to fight the Fascists. And Putin is a fascist: a warmongering, authoritarian, bigot; a misogynist who exploits the worst religious tendencies of Russian Orthodoxy; a thin-skinned thug who arrests or murders political adversaries, persecutes the LGBTQ community, and has criminalized telling the truth. 2022? More like 1984.
Sadly, as the Russians have gotten bogged down and expended more and more of their precision missiles, they are resorting to less precise and brutal methods. They are hitting schools and residential areas. In Mariupol the Russians recently struck a hospital maternity ward. In the same city they bombed a theater being used as a civilian bomb shelter, where from the air one could clearly see the Russian word for "children" marked in large letters on the ground. Pregnant women, newborns and kids. This is simply intolerably savage.
Some estimates say 80% of the buildings in that city have been either damaged or completely destroyed. Some put the figure at 90%. This is a city of 446,103 people (2017). Imagine Tampa or Minneapolis if 80% of its buildings had been bombed. The Russians are hitting power stations, the water supply, internet, TV and radio towers, houses....Unable to break the Ukrainian military, they are going after the civilian infrastructure to break the people. No Western country wants to risk a hot war with the Russian military, especially as Putin has not exactly taken the nuclear option off the table. But there are indications Putin may be willing to create a pretext to use chemical or even biological weapons. No Western power wants to enforce a "no-fly zone" that would entail shooting down Russian warplanes. But will the West let every city in Ukraine on the way to Kyiv suffer the fate of Mariupol? If the West us unwilling to fight, at least furnish them with the materiel they need to protect their civilian population. Biden called Putin a "murderous dictator" and a "pure thug." Indeed. Send him a polonium smoothie, my treat.
Don't be overly hard on those Russian artists and athletes abroad who don't vociferously denounce Putin. They have families to think of. Just take a look at what happened to dissident Alexander Litvinenko. The Russian people are not our enemies, even those who don't speak up. They aren't cowards or collaborators, they're merely terrified. Heck, even posting this scares me.
One unnamed dolt considers Putin a "genius" and only wishes he could pull off the kind of corrupted "elections" Czar Vladimir has managed to do with help from his media and political enablers. There are Facebook pages set up by Americans extolling the virtues of Putin's "strength." (No link to you fucktards. And yeah, juvenile ad hominem attacks are the only words I'll waste on you.) This little blog ain't got that sway, but we do at least have our say. And we say to you: "Nuts!!" Make your Gadsen flag yellow and blue, and don't tread on Snake Island!
If you Putin apologists love him so much, go and live in Russia and see how long you can stay out of jail for hinting at lynching elected officials. "Love it or Leave it" as they use to tell those dastardly lefties (Ah, the irony; again). Hey Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, why not put your money where your mouth is and go really fight for freedom? It's one thing to stand around scowling at black-clad college kids with an AR-15 in your arms. It's fun to play dress up, like some right-wing version of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Playing soldier. Go be one. But perhaps beating up police officers as part of a mob at the Capitol is closer to your actual skill-set. Maybe what the unnamed dolt couldn't do for you, Putin can. That means you too, Fucker Carlson, the Kremlin's favorite propagandist. Don't let fascist apologists pollute the airwaves unchecked. Send your fan mail to:
Tucker "Putin's Goebbels" Carlson
c/o Fox News
21st Century Fox
1211 Avenue of the Americas New York
NY 10036
United States
For shame, Carlson. One of your own colleagues was just killed in Ukraine. At the beginning of this farrago TC asked his audience “Why do I hate Putin so much?...Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?” No, but he has jailed and murdered those who have. Maybe you can ask the family of your dead colleague the same idiotic questions at the next company Christmas party. Maybe you can tell them how owning liberals and flogging the "woke" horse is more important than condemning a murderous dictator. But it may be hard for him to speak with the unnamed dolt's cock in his mouth. Then again, tiny hands and all. He may have plenty of space left over to murmur another inane excuse for commentary.
But enough of American fascists.
If you want to support Ukraine financially:
Millions of people have already fled Ukraine, and they need our help. One 11-year-old fled Ukraine alone with nothing but a backpack, his passport and a phone number written on his hand. 620 miles to Slovakia. Alone. Reminds me of the story of my mum and her aunts being put on a train north from London in the darkest days of the Blitz, with nothing but a small bag and her parents' names and address safety-pinned to her coat. Or my uncle, whose own dad was swept out of his arms as he stood in the doorway of his train north, when a "doodlebug" (V-1 flying bomb) struck the station. (Maybe Victoria Station?) His dad apparently got back up, dusted himself off, and carried on with what had to be done. My mum, aunts and uncle are still with us. They didn't know what would happen to them, but they were met by strangers, whose kindness may have kept them alive as they spent the remaining days of the Blitz in the Lake District.
If you want to host Ukrainian refugees here in France (Si vous souhaitez accueillir des réfugiés ukrainiens ici en France).
Recensemement des capacités d'hébergement des particuliers - dispositif Ukraine
If you want to fight for Ukraine, don't be a hopeless romantic, make sure you actually can. This is not a game, and I don't encourage you to risk your life if you don't have some capacity to preserve it. But if you think you can, here are some ways to do it. Make sure you aren't breaking any of your national laws.
International legion of Defense of Ukraine
Join Ukraine’s Foreign Legion
Want to go fight for Ukraine? Here’s what to do
Update 24/03: Remember what I said about making sure you actually can help? Without medical, military, or even police training, you may be more hindrance than help. Take this WaPo article as a cautionary tale; go through official channels!
Update 25/03: Thousands of foreign volunteers are fighting in Ukraine. History suggests it could go badly. Not to be overly discouraging, but while I admire those who have volunteered, but I don't want to encourage anyone to be foolhardy. You may best be of help but opening your wallets, or homes, for refugees.
Don't harass the average Russian immigrant in your neighborhood. Chances are they are as horrified as you may be. This is not a war against the Russian people, but Putin and his enablers, including the unnamed dolt and his media mouthpieces in the States. The Russian people were Putin's earliest victims. Putin has stated he has his sights on Moldova, the Baltic states, and even perhaps East Germany. He has openly dreamed of "recreating the Soviet Union." Don't let history repeat itself and appease Putin, who had made no secret of his desire to take over any place with a significant Russian-speaking population. Much like Hitler wanted to take over any place with a large German-speaking population. Putin is a threat to global security, stability, economic health....and shirtless men who ride horses the world over. Hitler wanted revenge after Germany's defeat in WW1. Putin wants to avenge the humiliation of being on the losing side of the Cold War. The parallels are striking. The comparisons fail when we see that unlike Hitler's early military success, Putin has tragically underestimated the capacity of the Ukrainian military and the will of the average citizen to resist. The shocking incompetence of his armed forces may give him pause, but if he is not stopped cold in Ukraine, he will not stop with Ukraine.
The West should help Ukraine, and the Russian people. Bring Putin and his circle of supportive oligarchs to their knees. Be selfish if that makes it easier: A wider European war will do none of us any good. In the 60's they used to say fighting for peace was like screwing for virginity. But letting Putin grab what he wants unopposed is a victory for naked aggression. Don't let Putin grab Ukraine by the Pussy Riot.
Resistance. Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova risked her freedom, and maybe her life, to protest the war on live TV. That is courage. That is what taking a real stand means. Bloviating about freedom and spreading lies under the guise of "just asking questions, man" is just that: bloviating and lying to the American public. Pravda has a whole structure in place to manipulate social media and spread disinformation, propaganda, and sew discord. Don't let Fox News pundits make their job any easier. That means you Tuckersky Carlsonovitch, you tepid cum-rag. To quote the Snake Island Thirteen, "Go fuck yourself!"
Resistance is not futile. For Western leaders, I understand and totally agree we need to avoid a full-scale European war. But timidity before WW2 got us nowhere. I'm not saying we are merely putting off the inevitable. WW3 is not inevitable. But something must be done. This is what you have been elected for. Figure it out.
In my analytics recently I noticed that the vast majority if visitors recently have come from Russia. For some reason, I've always had lot of Russian visitors, but never as high as recent rates. Well over half of LoS visitors now come from Russia, far outnumbering the US, which is usually my highest country, logically.
ReplyDeleteSo maybe it's this post?
Some recent developments:
Official Russian sources put the number of soldiers KIA at something like 1300, while NATO claims it could be as high as 15,000! One month in and the figures already exceed the worst months of Chechnya, as well as Russian and Soviet-era campaigns in Afghanistan, Georgia and Syria. Madness.
The Washing Post also reports that:
"Russian soldiers attacked and injured their commanding officer after their brigade suffered heavy losses in the fighting outside the capital, Kyiv, according to a Western official and a Ukrainian journalist.
Troops with the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade ran a tank into Col. Yuri Medvedev, injuring both his legs, after their unit lost almost half its men, according to a Facebook post by Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk. The post said the colonel had been hospitalized."
If true, the fragging I mentioned in my post will certainly continue. None of this gives me any sense of vindication or justice. It's all just terrible. And Russian media can't even legally call it an invasion, but a "special military operation."
More like a special military clusterf--k.
I know my own country is not exactly angelic and has its own weird euphemisms for its wars, so it's no surprise, just grossly untrue.
If you happen to be reading from Russia, hope you know many of us in the West understand this isn't your war. I for one am sad that sanctions will hit you so hard. I know it's not easy to protest or even speak up about it in Russia. Let's hope that it all ends soon, for everyone's sake.
I was recently accused on WaPo of being a Russian troll for asking if that NATO figure of 15k soldiers KIA was an exaggeration designed to break Russian resolve and morale. Then my comment was removed! I chalk this up to the Fox News pundit effect; you know the tactic, how guys like T Carlson will plant ideas in peoples' heads and say "I'm just asking questions" as a way to hedge their bets and have a case for plausible deniability. In effect they mask outrageous accusations by formulating them as questions they never really answer. Because the question itself is the answer. So some guy saw my question and assumed I was using this same tactic, a tactic Russian trolls actually often use.
DeleteIt's a good idea for a post in itself: the "weaponization of information" and how disinformation is used for propaganda and psychological warfare. I really don''t like Alex Jones, but the name of his website -- "InfoWars" -- is a really good name. Too bad the guy is so full of dung. If there a deep state/cryptocracy "war for your mind" (their expression), Jones would most likely be one of their most effective agents!
This came in my AdSense notifications today after a briefer version a few weeks back:
ReplyDelete"Important Notice: Update regarding Ukraine
Dear Publisher,
Due to the war in Ukraine, we will pause monetisation of content that exploits, dismisses or condones the war.
Please note, we have already been enforcing on claims related to the war in Ukraine when they violated existing policies (for instance, the Dangerous or Derogatory content policy prohibits monetising content that incites violence or denies tragic events). This update is meant to clarify, and in some cases expand, our publisher guidance as it relates to this conflict.
This pause includes, but is not limited to, claims that imply victims are responsible for their own tragedy or similar instances of victim blaming, such as claims that Ukraine is committing genocide or deliberately attacking its own citizens."
In principle, I agree and understand Google trying to prevent Blogger from being used by Russian troll farms to spread disinformation and propaganda, but am a bit leery about the free speech implications.
Blogger is private, they can run their business as they want. I'm sure there's pressure from some advertisers who don't want their ads to appear on pro-Russian blogs, as well.
In the end, they're not forbidding such content, just not letting people, or Russian propaganda organs, make money off it. I guess it's no different than not letting people use AdSense in posts of a pornographic nature, or posts containing nudity.
Anyway, it struck me as being worth a comment. Obviously. Still wondering what the specific criteria are, and at what point Google is drawing the line....