Jen Psaki is right. This IS preposterous. How dare former rep Gabbard get on the disformation pain train? Ceasefire to find nasty biolabs? How about a ceasefire in humanitarian corridors to let people get away from Putin’s labs of reigning hellfire, Tulsi?
And Tuckems? Quite sure he has nailed Putin’s memo with the victory statement regarding the information war’s narcissistic shill to his “I am the greatest” bulletin board. What in the Sam Hill is a Putin memo circulating amongst media outlets as a directive? Pffffft. I spit on it.
Not sure why, Professor, but your narrative tonight cuts right to my core. To think a President of the United States took us down this hateful, despicable rabbit hole. And we allowed it.
Pfffft. I feel ashamed tonight. Please, we must rise above this. Save Ukraine. Save us. Shut the damn door on treason.
Rumor has it in my family that upon meeting up with Mussolini in Italy, my grandfather spat on the ground by M's feet. Shortly after, my grandfather ushered his family off to America. I wonder whatever he would say today.
Morning, Lynell! My father will be 99 in just a few days (hopefully). He told me a couple of years ago that he had been a Republican all his life, but had turned his back on the "party of traitors", as he put it. He said there is no honor among thieves, and that the 2 wars he fought in (WWII and Korea) were supposed to help this country stay above these types of behaviors. His last word on it was that, with someone like Trump as president, there was nothing he could see making it worth fighting for this country. I pray we aren't dragged into another war, but it could come to pass with the crazies out there in the world trying to take over their neighbors. Fortunately, my dad won't be able to join in. I echo others in saying "Pfffft". A pox on all of them.
My dad who will be 98 in June was a lifelong republican, too, and started not voting Republican because, as he says, "I didn't leave the party; the party left me." My brothers and I we4re relieved that we could get him to vote for Hillary even though he didn't like her. He saw her as the better choice.
Alexander, I am awed that your father and Deborah's both still have the mental acuity to recognize that the party they believed in has changed its values. My father passed on at 97, Jan. 1 2020; my mother, on Jan. 4, 2022, 6 weeks shy of 100. It wasn't until I learned the history of the GOP from reading this newsletter and Heather's books that I finally understood why Dad was such a committed Republican. He had not learned the significance of what was happening in the past 40 years. Mom was a life-long, letter-writing, peace-marching liberal advocate. No excuses for most of my 7 younger sibs who still support tfg.
Many of those die-hard Republicans think they already know the answers and are not willing to do much reading. I do not know where I'd be without Heather's writings. And, I think the e majority of us readers do check to make sue we are not falling for lies, either. It's awesome overall, isn't it?
Morning, Lynell. Interesting family and what a patriarch! Neither Mussolini nor Putin, from what we now see in Ukraine, are famed for their powers of organization as opposed to the power of their words. Happily your Grandfather managed to escape as are millions of Ukrainians.....and thousands of Russians who are Finland bound.
Morning, Stuart!! Not considered a deserter, he was in his sixties when he took his family to the U.S. (circa 1925) My grandmother was 60 when my mother (the last of 12 children) was born!
Lordy, my Mom was 46 when youngest bro was born (8th). hadn’t heard of older woman giving birth, but never checked it out. Just in awe of my strong mother.
My girlfrirnd was born into a family of 8 kids…3 sets of twins! She was a twin, one singular gitl, 2 sets of boy twins, and then 1 singular boy. Her mom was also 42 at the time of last child and my girlfriend was 17. She felt like she was his mom.
See my comment above, and let me know how old your mother lived to be, or if she is still alive? I've known one woman in my own age bracket who had a child at that age without medical help.
That's fascinating about your grandmother's age when your mother was born. Statistically, women who have children at age 40 or beyond live longer than others. How old did your grandmother live to be?
My mother had 8 children, with the last one at 40. She just passed on 1/4/22, 6 weeks before her 100th birthday. She also took up running and long-distance bicycling in her 50s. She rode 40,000+ miles before stopping at 84.
Alas, she died at 68. But one big claim to fame for her was that she was pregnant during the voyage to the States, giving birth to my mother a mere month after landing on these shores.
Among the first cohort of women born on Pitcairn Island--children of the Bounty mutineers--three of them, out of between 15 and 18 (can't remember the precise number),three had their last children beyond age 40, at least one at age 44
In my studies of leadership styles, the most highly effective was the “emergent” leader, who’s example set the tone for loyalty and engagement from the cohort. Least effective in those terms was the Authoritarian. Those types, leading only by fear of reprisal, eventually collapse of their ultimate loss of loyalty and support
In the meantime, chaos reigns
In this case, Authoritarian leads to MAD, as “leader” takes his ball, the “world” and says, if I can’t be leader, we’ll all die together
I think Biden is up with those leaders who lead from behind, who isn't often seen.....note the criticism from D's who say he should defend his policies.
Good morning, Lynell. Just an “interesting” aside. My mother’s cousin was married to an Italian gentleman (Bruno) who was one of Mussolini’s body guards during the war, and I had a conversation with him about a year before his death. He claimed that M was responsible for saving thousands of Italian’s lives by aligning with Hitler, and that saving these lives was his only reason for doing so. He still believed that M was a great man, a patriot. For his part, Bruno was imprisoned and sentenced to death. He managed to escape to South America, where he met my mom’s cousin who was serving as a missionary there.
"He claimed that M was responsible for saving thousands of Italian’s lives by aligning with Hitler, and that saving these lives was his only reason for doing so. "
I can tell you for the thousands of Jews sent to their deaths when M allied w/ Hitler that they might disagree with Italians being saved. Talk to the survivors of devastated Italian cities and towns that the Nazis used in their war of attrition against the Allied forces. M was under no more pressure than Franco of Spain to actively ally with the Nazis - even after the Nazis gave military aircraft and personnel to help Franco in the "civil war".
M really is the closest historical figure I can think of as the same malignant
narcissist as Trump. Trump wouldn't have given a hunter's damn if thousands of his minions were killed on 1/6/21. For all these insane people, losing ones life for them is to be expected as a natural course of events.
Lynell, I don’t know the specifics of his arrest and sentence, I never thought to ask. I did get the impression from things Bruno said that many of the men close to M suffered the same fate.
Bless your grandfather, Lynell! If my dad had been in Germany or Italy at that time, he would’ve done the same. Alas, he, aJew from Poland, was sent to the Pacific Theater. Glad they both survived. Salud!
You have the right to be outraged, Christine! What is happening is absolutely outrageous!
We must and we will rise above all the trumpian, putinian, tuckerisms that are being spewed, like poison, into our minds. Our Earth will never be a union of putinian republics. We will not and cannot have trumpism ruling these United States EVER AGAIN, and tuckerisms should be declared treasonous and banned from the airways.
United, always, Christine! Courage, mon amie! Salud❣️❣️❣️We must learn from our Ukrainian kin and stand up to war and injustice en masse!🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦
Putin has pulled a page from our own playbook around "bioweapons labs in Ukraine".
Right?
Remember when the on the ground weapons inspectors in Iraq were giving speeches and live interviews denying the lie that the USA was promulgating about "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq?
Yes, it is really hard to be self righteous while you have your hand on the wallet in someone else pocket.
Yes. In caps: SHAME ON THE REPUBLICANS FOR obstruction and anti-democracy acts and crimes against America. Supporting Putin and sedition are enought that they need to be ousted. Why are they still sitting in offices being paid by our taxes whilst they destroy our country and steal our rights? Geeze...
I remember it well. I watched that UN debate and was horrified that we were blaming France. It became quite popular to blame them. Does anyone else remember that?
Love that last paragraph! It’d seem there are many who fit that description - follow the money - isn’t Carlson’s behavior tantamount to treason? He’s such a despicable lying talking head!
I would like to see the proverbial hook grab F**ker’s neck and drag him offstage to a paddy wagon awaiting to take him to a plane and depositing him in a desert unbeknownst to him or to us. No toilets, no wifi, no cell towers…
I guess you're right, Mike. It's just my opinion that Freedom of Speech is one thing but there should be rules against out right lying and spinning outlandish and infamous stories that have no semblance of truth when you're in such a position of influence. Their positions, (at Fox) as broadcasters, need to be held to higher standards.
I have always wondered that too, Ally. Being in thrall to an authoritarian is attractive to many people; witness the thousands who attend Evangelical churches which hammer against homosexuality and abortions. In exchange they are given "family" and a sense of belonging.
Who didn’t know that Tulsi was a TrojannHorse, and who didn’t know that Tucker was a traitor, just like chump. It was all very deliberate, Helsinki knew…
Thank you, Professor: "But May couldn’t do much because Brexit had isolated England and then-president Trump refused to back her." Some here may disagree, but Brexit was a mad idea imo, and Britain is feeling the bite now. I will be there in a week to stay with my brother and I will experience it first hand. Too late for "if onlys" and I hope we learn from our mistakes! Meanwhile Ukraine suffers and stupidity remains here... history willl record the damage that trump has done. Fox "news" is owned by a foreigner, our country is upside down. Shame on Tulsi Gabbard!
I keep thinking of Allan, Tanya and Lucky, I haven't seen a post from him and I hope they are safe.
When Brexit passed, it shocked many Brits because, like our 2016 election, it wasn't supposed to fall that way. It was a grandstand gesture. Let us know what you experience. There have been products from Britain no longer available to us in Spain.
My feelings exactly... little sleep and immense anger and frustration has left my ability to articulate my thoughts well!
I want to see Manafort and Trump take the dead man walk, and Carlson as well.
If I was able I would be on my way to Ukraine right now. At 70 years of age, I wouldn't be a great soldier, but I would hold and love as many babies and children I could reach.
Like Russian assets. That's how Gabbard, Carlson, TFG, and the rest are behaving. So I think the designation fits.
Perhaps unrelated, but I've wondered if back around the time of the (also) propaganda-driven war in Iraq, when Rumsfeld spoke disparagingly of "Old Europe," forces on the right signaling weak support for our traditional allies effectively gave a green light for the aggression and expansionism we see today from Russia. It's not much of a leap from that stance to the right's propaganda-induced realignment with Russia against our traditional, democratic, "Old European" allies. What colossal tragedy and darkness has unfolded since the weak Bush Jr. presidency.
Yes Christine FL.. "we" did allow it. The real trouble (not dilemma, yet) is "we" must all face our selves in the mirror... we must look hard at 'the trouble' we "allowed". So, let's look hard at just How we did we allow this? Then comes the "dilemma"..ie, What To Do? Let's begin with the purveyors of mealy-mouthed crap, along with our cadre of non-voters. Notice I did not include Faux Noos. I'm speaking to ALL of us who are branded as LIBTARDS. Yeah, You & Me. We failed to be aggressive. OK, Who failed? Money'ed people failed to be real Americans. That's one! Then, there are the 'learned ones' amongst us who "failed" to engender unity. But more, you failed to apply techniques both above...and covertly (with a tinge of ethicality :) below the the tabletop. ALL of the above requiring $money$. We were after all voting for the only candidate who would surface..Joe Biden. And our support was blah blah almost disasterous.., instead of a true landslide. So, I hear ya, those of you who've read this far, saying okay Mad, do something besides create negative waves. Hahaha.. negative? Really!? Well, I lack $$$, and I lack 'clout' , but, I can darn sure see us backin up as an un-unified crowd, when we need to push forward with a strong front for our only hope.. Biden, the only shot we got!! And, I will add that unless we develop a real combined unified front to elect him,.. we will stumble in our own spit...for a long long time watching our diminishing circle of friends, along with you and I, as we wither away. If we haven't already been nuked, or biologically numbed by Pooch. Sorry.
Don't be.....We have some far left progressives here in Salem who are always looking for someone who checks all the boxes and continue to diss Biden when they should be pointing out what he has accomplished. Thankfully, the candidate for mayor of Salem who calls herself a socialist has suspended her campaign. So, now it's a sensible progressive and the fav of the Chamber of Horrors.
That's the way we do it. The word "socialist" rhymes with Commy-nist...It's a NON starter. We need to QUIT trying to educate people as to the dictionary of it. Sanders probably lost because of it. AOC shot herself in the foot because of the same stupidity. That's one of the reasons we are dubbed "libtards"...and rightly so.
The Fascist Far right did a great job in the Cold War era of conflating Socialism as synonymous with the dreaded "Godless" specter
of Communism.
The real irony for someone like myself who feels that Marx had it right in his critique of Capitalism (an amazingly prescient one given it Marx wrote prior to our Civil War) is that virtually every woe we suffer as a society has it causalities in the of enabling Capitalism, in all its unfettered, free-markets and rampant glory.
There is no need for anyone to become unglued by my opinion of Capitalism or even Marx. Because Capitalism is now morphing rapidly into a genuine return to Neo-Feudal Society. Seriously.
If anyone would like to engage this further, just let me know.
I think Marx was right on with his criticism of capitalism. I have explained this many times, but what I get is laugh emojis and sneering because I am educated. Our neighbor, a retired banker, gave one of the best critiques of what goes on now I have ever heard and this at the local level. I applaud calling what we are morphing into a new-feudal society. I have thought that too, but had not called it what it is. So, no debate from me.
It is. The person in question has a lot to offer, but won't get anywhere if she continues to id as a socialist. These folks are Bernie types and they haven't really thought through why he lost. Like the far right, they are unreachable. One of them does go film all the right wing nonsense. This week the local Hatred churches are running a 24 hour thing on the capitol grounds. God is definitely frowning on them because we are having lots of rain nearly all week long.
And to think people actually voted for her in the Presidential primary. So glad she didn’t do well. I think she is still in the reserve, yes? If so, can’t she be charged or court marshland or something and all clearances taken away?
Ya kno Bill, that whole bunch, is there because their *@#%$ messages have found a audience of Americans who are frustrated by "Every Thing"... You Name It. They are sick of it. And those networks add lies (""BS"") to fuel that anger. Anybody who tries to help them understand are dubbed LIBTARDSS. It will take a long time to wear that out.
We are 15 miles away from a World War and our country is on the verge of slipping into war at home. It feels as if the world we know (or knew) is teetering on a razor's edge.
All of this is by design. What you’re witnessing is a controlled demolition of the current global order in order to bring about a one world government/new world order.
Take the time to read the following two articles in the order presented, and arm yourself with knowledge:
"We shall have world government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether world government will be achieved by conquest or consent." -James Paul Warburg - In an address to the U.S. Senate, July 17th, 1950
“We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools.” -MLK Jr.
I read the first one for as long as I could...but my laughter was overcome by my need for a second coffee. The pandemic as a "tool for achieving world government"? Honestly, I think you may have a future in Hollywood - I love sci-fi and apocalyptic movies.
Really, you would be better served writing screen plays than hanging out here with us boring realists.
🤣🤣🤣 I thought my grandfather was long dead. This “vast conspiracy” nonsense keeps getting resurrected every generation. Sorry “tritorch”, you just wasted your $.
I am a "conspiracy theorist". I believe men and women of wealth and power conspire. If you don't think so, then you are what is called "an idiot". If you believe stuff but fear the label, you are what is called "a coward".
"The people assume we are just going back to the good old world which we had, and everything will be normal again, this is fiction, it will not happen....
Radical changes of such consequence are coming that some pundits have referred to as ‘before coronavirus’ (BC) and ‘after coronavirus’ (AC) era. We will continue to be surprised by both the rapidity and unexpected nature of these changes – as they conflate with each other, they will provoke second-, third-, fourth- and more-order consequences, cascading effects and unforeseen outcomes,"
Please, next you'll be warning us of the Trilateral Commission and the Illuminati. Absolute rubbish. Go bother people on 4CHAN. (Added a few minutes later - I read some of your posts - you actually do warn of the Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderberg Group, you're playing all the "one world government" hits...)
Again, rubbish. Just to take an excerpt from one of your posts:
"The conflict will decimate what remains of our supply chains at their most basic level, wreaking absolute havoc. Currencies - already on their last legs - will be deliberately hyper-inflated away all over the globe in order to pay for it. Our lives will be intentionally and irrevocably flipped upside-down.
Everyone will be demanding something be done and the pre-planned solutions will be one-world-government and CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies). These CBDCs will link with your social credit score, vaccine status, and carbon footprint in order to determine your eligibility - in real time - to participate or not participate in the economy."
Every one of your contentions is wildly exaggerated, or flat out fiction. Supply chains have been disrupted, they'll adjust. Currencies aren't "on their last legs" and we're not faced with hyper-inflation. There won't be one world government or central bank digital currencies - you don't understand crypto at all if you think that's where it's going. Nobody is going to tie our vaccine status to our credit score. Just a bunch of overwrought tripe.
I am astonished that some people here "Like" your posts. Usually we're more of a fact-based group. Please stop with this, don't pollute this online community.
CBDCs are waiting in the wings. They are intended to be turned on and off at will. Here is the president of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements - the central bank of central banks) speaking about having "permission" to use them:
"Central banks will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine that use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that."
I researched CBDCs. You’ve totally distorted them, implying that they will be a “one world” currency with connections to a person’s credit scores and vaccine records. All rubbish (I use that term a lot in referencing your posts). A CBDC is a digital representation of a country’s currency, issued by that country’s central bank (The Fed, in the US). So, a US CBDC would be tied to the dollar, if the Fed issues one. The main difference between a CBDC and the dollar is that transactions will be verified by a block chain. This means that, if you get your paycheck as a CBDC transaction, you don’t have to wait 3-4 days for the funds to travel from your employers bank account to yours. The money would be in your account in seconds. And it would still be dollars.
You blew this fairly mundane digitization of a country’s currency exchange into a fictional, one-world, Orwellian nightmare. Why, what is wrong with you? Do you enjoy spreading baseless paranoia? Do you actually believe this garbage? The only peril here is in your mind.
JR I'll bet anything torch's buddies logged on today to "like" his/her ridiculous posts. Basically this comments section is getting spammed today. Also since they keep posting more and more nonsense it is probably best to just ignore them. I am.
JR I suspect, like me, you enjoy cuckoo clocks, but not cuckoo ideas. Back in 1956 I had a Quaker graduate school professor who was a devotee of world government and the UN as a real-world forum where all major international problems would be resolved. Since I refused to sing Kumbaya, it was a vexing class.
I am reminded of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which all animals were equal, except the pigs. I did witness one group that seemed to handle governance well—-it was a tribe of about 30 Mbuti pygmies in the southern Sudan who shared responsibilities between genders and respected their elders. This vanished when hunting and gathering morphed into the Agricultural Revolution.
As James Madison stated in the Federalist Papers, “If all men were angels, there would be no need for government, b…” We are not angels—far from it. World government in reality is a foo foo dust concept. If there were some devils in the group, which ‘angels’ would set them straight? Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Unless there is a profound change in human nature (a global lobotomy?),us non-angels require checks and balances nationally and, hopefully, in the world arena.
JR, 53 aren't so many: there are quite a few infiltrators on here, it appears, occasionally posting. We're the "enemy", so apparently they are monitoring. This is not surprising- it's pretty much expected. But recently it seems to have gone into a higher gear, (though Tritorch appears to be from the fringe of something else). And then there are sometimes people who see something that lines up with what they think, so hit "like" (heart?) without really reading the piece with a critical eye. Tritorch has a way with words, but seems short in the critical thinking department, too. Though whoever it is could well be fully aware of what they are doing and using distorted reasoning to manipulate people. So much of that going around that sometimes it almost sounds normal. Scary, that.
For my own part, I clicked 'like' at first without looking at the links, and immediately removed my 'like' once I opened the links briefly and saw what nonsense they contained. I imagine there are some others who left a 'like' but didn't retract it like I did in the mix.
JR, ignore the mongers. They are not worth wasting time on. They are fishing to divert us and every time we respond directly they succeed. Ignore them and they go away. Once in a while one is so blatant someone calls them out. And sometimes it turns out they are wrong. (A newbie called me a troll once in a nasty post when I returned after an absence of a few weeks. That didn't last long. She learned both the etiquette and the community. Now we are friends.)
Enjoy the HCR community for what it is: voices of people who are seeking to understand what is going on and how they can best respond. We don't always agree, but by and large we get along, and, more importantly, we listen to each other and sort out the places where we have different approaches. In the process, we learn from one another, and I suspect, teach those invisible readers who come by (journalists, legislators or their staff, historians, and just other people like us who are trying to learn and are not so inclined to post here as others).
Like others, I take a break from time to time, but I always come back because, dang, I just plain like the people here. And today already I learned a whole new way of thinking about something that I want to explore more. That's the point. Not to win an argument or posture, but to learn and grow.
By now, we all realize you are having fun with this. But your conspiracies are outdated and not trending. Here is something new and fresh. And...they are holding a rally this weekend!
MLK was most certainly not talking about some kind of world order. And you cherry picked a person who apparently was obsessed with the world order topic and how to deal with Germany after WW2. "After World War 2, Warburg helped organized the Society for the Prevention of World War III in support of the Morgenthau Plan. According to Morgenthau's son, senior U.S. Treasury department official and alleged Soviet spy Harry Dexter White was influential in drafting the memorandum." Morgenthau was viewed as an extremist and sidelined.
You are leaping to vague and presumptive conclusions all around.
I used that quote to say that if we do not stop fighting among one another - Left vs Right, Gay vs Straight, Vaxxed vs Unvaxxed - and unite we will fall.
The media uses 'us vs them' as a divide and conquer tool. Of course MLK has nothing to do with the new world order:
The media - both news and entertainment - have now politicized nearly everything in our society as an extremely powerful mechanism of control.
Politicization is so effective at manipulating the populace because most people emotionally connect their personal belief system to the belief system of their political party, and so then any attack on their party - legitimate or otherwise - is interpreted by their brain as an attack on themselves. Reason and logic then jump out the nearest window as raw emotion takes the helm, thus making them even more susceptible to the predatory controlling influences.
This why people get upset when their beliefs are challenged:
A mental conflict occurs when beliefs are contradicted by new information. This conflict activates areas of the brain involved in personal identity and emotional response to threats. The brain's alarms go off when a person feels threatened on a deeply personal and emotional level, causing them to shut down and disregard any rational evidence that contradicts what they previously regarded as truth.
And if you think the disinformation campaigns will stop, just wait. Putin is crazy enough and conniving enough to start the next World War, and this one will make I and II look like child's play.
Have to wonder about that. Would his generals let him? Putin must be feeling a lot less secure than he was a couple of weeks ago, which might make him want to lash out. But the generals must be feeling even less secure, and might relish an order that would justify overthrowing him and making themselves heroes. This is all speculation, I admit, but isn’t that true of virtually all the speculation that is being so loudly trumpeted?
Jon, I think you are probably right about Putin AND his generals. It's happened before in Russia. But you also hit on a point that has been popping up: how much damage a person can cause when things don't go as they anticipated but they will not back down. I suspect it will take the combo of resistance by the Russian people to Putin, and his government refusing to follow commands because they really do not want this war. The sanctions are essential, and there is some word that at least a portion of ordinary Russian citizens agree. They know they are being shafted by the oligarchs. As for speculation, if it is based on past experience and current signals based on good intel and insight, it can give an idea of what's going on behind the scrim and help us anticipate possible scenarios. We just have to be willing to constantly revise as our information changes.
hitler was a poor general. his generals never moved against him. stalin got rid of his best generals because they were a threat. then along came ww2 and russia was in trouble. but stalin had to die (1953) before anyone (krushchev) denounced him and revealed his crimes. italians turned against mussolini when they started losing the war. the west would easily win a war with russia, if nuclear weapons are not used, a big IF. yes, 80% of german casualties in europe were on the russian front (so don't tell a russian that the us and britain won the war) but russia was on defense the whole time, until stalin forced the west to open a western front (d day). meanwhile, the us is so fond of saying 'dissent ends at the border." be careful what you wish for. russia is hiring mercenaries? blackwater, anyone? more and more it seems that putin has never had an original idea. he'll be dropping barrel bombs next. the farther west the war spreads, the better it is for ukraine. russian forces 'worked like russians.' that means two weeks day and night on a large but limited task, like bringing in a harvest, building a house, hacking into a computer system. if that doesn't get the job done, something is desperately wrong. the two weeks were up on friday the 11th. the russians should be 'sleeping on the stove' by now, but things did not work out for them. now it will get crazy, and desperate. ukraine, keep your hand on that plow, hold on. bad news travels fast, even in russia.
Don't know why I bother. Hitler's generals did move against him. They were outed, and died as a result. But they tried and are honored as heroes as a result. Not bothering with the rest of it. My eyes hurt. So does my head. Will say this: You are right that Putin has never had an original idea (long ago noted). But he has a very strong sense of survival. He is not predictable, but that doesn't mean he's a total fool.
There were no military supplies at that base. They are not stupid. It was a training centre only. Other than that HCR has it spot on as does TCfromLA.
We are in Warsaw and fly to Canada on Wednesday so Fern can stop sweating.
My kids are collecting money for Tanya to send directly to people we know of in and around Zhovti Vody but I have not figured out how to tap my LFAA friends yet. Am trying to figure out wise.com. We are not a registered charity, more like a Nigerian Prince Scam. Trust us just send money.
Allen. I had been sending money for fuel early on when a Ukrainian woman had a truck from Poland getting people across the border. Money went to a PayPal account and then to Inessa. We heard directly from her and how grateful she was. Her car had been bombed in Ukraine.
Try PayPal. We can get money to you and Tanya that way.
Keep us up to date where to send money, “Nigerian Prince”Allen.
Info re PayPal: Established in 1998 as Confinity, PayPal went public through an IPO in 2002. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay later that year, valued at $1.5 billion. In 2015, eBay spun off PayPal to eBay's shareholders and PayPal became an independent company again.
Allen, continued safe travels this week - I know all of us here in Heather's community will breathe a sigh of relief for this bright spot in all the grim darkness of the continued situation. And soon I'll get to say I know a Nigerian prince! 😄 Thanks for the smile from your comment.
I agree with Christine: if you link a bank account to PayPal, people can contribute without being charged a fee. And the transactions are secure The only downside is that the mo**erfu**er who owns PayPal is a whacko Trumpista. So supporting him to do some good has a small effect, but at least he can't charge a fee.
He was one of the original founders of PayPal but no longer has anything to do with them. eBay bought PayPal 20 years ago. But, yes, he’s a horrible person.
Glad to hear it--there was a feature on Thiel couple weeks ago that suggested he was still involved with PayPal--and he is funding the misinformation campaign of TFG.
Absolutely correct, Linda. I close one eye and look askance every time I use PayPal. But there is no fee. I hope Allen lets us know soon. His kids are gathering money so perhaps we can send money through one of their pathways.
"It was announced on September 30, 2014, that eBay would spin off PayPal into a separate publicly traded company, a move demanded in 2013 by activist hedge fund magnate Carl Icahn. The spin-off was completed on July 18, 2015.[44][45][46] Dan Schulman is the current president and CEO, with former eBay CEO John Donahoe serving as chairman.[43] On January 31, 2018, eBay announced that "After the existing eBay-PayPal agreement ends in 2020, PayPal will remain a payment option for shoppers on eBay, but it won't be prominently featured ahead of debit and credit card options as it is today. PayPal will cease to process card payments for eBay at that time." The company will "instead begin working with Amsterdam-based Adyen".
Now, I am sweating and so is my cash. Moisture is good as long as it's not a flood. Hi there, Allen. I wiped the sweat off my brow and ready for your request. I'm smiling at you, Allen and at Tanya, too! 💓💗❤️🌞🪴🌻
Joining the others in expressing our support and relief that you all are getting out of harm's way. I know your heart aches at having to leave your home and animals--I can't imagine--but we're all hoping and praying that somehow, sometime down the road you'll be able to return. It sounds like your fur-babies are going to be looked after and maybe they're used to you all going off for periods of time? When I lived in The Netherlands, my two cats were very used to my being gone on performing tours for days at a time, and I would go on extended visits to the States for up to a month or more. My girls were always looked after and were nevertheless glad to see me--well, as glad as cats can be...more like "Glad you're back...where TF have you been?...feed me!" My prayer is you can all be united sooner rather than later. God be with you and safe travels!
Turd Trump and Feces Putin have splattered their droppings across our country and the world. It is time to flush these Big Chunks down the toilet and refocus on the serious issues that affect us all.
Climate change, nuclear weapons, the realities of diversity, gross economic inequality, recognition of workers’ rights, fair global trade, appropriate child and health care…and much more.
We are in a swiftly-changing world. If we choose, WE have the capability to make it somewhat better. So let us all work together towards a better world rather than engage in lose-lose internecine battles.
Well, I for one do not think it's 100% certain Putin will strike NATO, at least not yet. I DO think it's only a matter of time on the chemical weapons, however. The Russians have an entirely different view on them and their use than we do--in fact, their words to this point are more for international and Western consumption than anything else. Something else, ahem, concerning: to keep it general, I was part of contingency planning for Syria when THEY used chemical. First, to dispel plenty of OUR OWN (Western media) conspiracy theories: yes, the Syrians used them, and yes we had the goods. 100%, so please, don't anyone argue with me (got into it with Seymour Hersh, of all people, about this. I was right, he was wrong). Want to hear the crazy part? The Russians believed the Syrians. I don't mean in their public statements, I mean their actual assessment. That was a disturbing, "wow," moment. So no, despite their long history of sober analysis on serious matters like nuclear war, I don't entirely have faith in the Russian intelligence apparatus these days. That bears mindfulness.
That said, I think Putin's actions vis-a-vis NATO are still of the probing kind. He surely noticed much greater solidarity from the alliance than was expected, at least so far, and now he's checking for cracks--hoping some of the lesser members will break ranks (looking at you, Viktor Orban, to start talking about "special considerations," or some other nonsense). I'll give you one factor possibly in play, that few (Samo Burja is an exception) have mentioned: the air umbrella. Most of the U.S.'s and NATO's apprehension about a No-Fly Zone is as-advertised. No-Flys have always been the domain of politicians with no actual skin in the game (like U.S. Senators) to sound tough, but seldom make much sense--for lots of practical reasons. In this case, yes such a thing would practically be asking for a confrontation. And here's the thing (and a reason the whole jet fighter thing is also mostly propaganda): the Russians have really, REALLY good AD. Like, good enough that, my uneducated guess is it might take WEEKS for us to feel safe flying planes over Ukraine. Worse, even then, there are undoubtedly assets in Russia and Belarus that could affect that airspace (no one ever mentions this) that we're VERY wary of and not ready to commit to engaging. For evidence of this, look no further than the Ukrainians themselves: I saw two days ago that most of their AF is...still intact. They're simply not flying much. The reason given was that the Russians have so many more planes in the air. I disagree--the Ukrainians are NOT afraid of a fight in the face of superior numbers (look on the ground). No--they don't want them shot down by ADA. Putin, meanwhile, knows this and is undoubtedly trying to get more of them in the air so he CAN shoot them down. This is why the whole Polish Mig-29 thing is more theater than reality: they'd be sitting on the ground TOO. My point is, Russia might VERY WELL feel they can hold their own with NATO in the air and feel VERY confident they can not only provoke, but even shoot down a couple of planes and have themselves a big PR coup...and what are we gonna do then, start a nuclear war over it? Putin's thinking and calculating such things, yes... My guess is, whatever air patrols we're flying now are getting told a LOT of things to look for in their flight briefs. This is a very complex situation, with TONS of probing activity going on we don't even hear about, and panacea "solutions" like No-Flys are simply inadequate thinking/planning regarding the actual operating area.
I want to point out that Russia's assertion that the US will use migratory birds, insects and bats to wage chemical warfare on its European allies is just poppycock from so many angles. For instance, birds generally migrate from north to south, not east to west, in search of a warmer climate. Now that spring is coming, those birds will migrate north.
I did check to see if any birds migrate east to west, and found that a couple Siberian birds have started this migration route due to global warming. But - those Siberian birds are migrating back to Siberia now that spring is coming. So Russia's theory fails in this respect, as well.
And then, how will the US infect all of these birds, insects and bats (how many will be inoculated) without exposing themselves to the chemicals?
Imagine the right's response if Russian media was told to feature video of a left-leaning journalist or politician as pro-Russian propaganda. It would be nonstop coverage for weeks. This news about Carlson is both unsurprising and will not be mentioned by the right and quickly forgotten by the left.
This is the type of disparity in our media and the way in which Americans receive their information that Russian propaganda exploits. They know that there will always be an audience receptive to whatever message they're pushing, that the attempts to counter that message with the truth will likely not even find that audience, and if that audience does hear the refutation against the propaganda they'll see it as some kind of evidence of a conspiracy to silence "the truth" and harden their position even further.
Unless fox Fox News and other right leaning media outlets face some kind of consequences for pushing blatantly false information we will always be vulnerable to this kind of attack.
This is looking more and more not like September 1939, and instead more and more like June 28-August 3, 1914. I just re-read the final chapter of Robert K. Massie's "Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War." This is starting to feel exactly like that. Not history repeating itself but certainly a lot of rhyming going on. If Putin commits one more outrage, it's going to be like the German Army burning Louvain in August 1914.
TC, with Holocaust atrocities perpetrated by Hitler's crew and Ukrainian atrocities perpetrated by Putin's crew, a maniacal individual can be identified as the director. What individual(s) were behind the Louvain mass killing and destruction?
Drunken German soldiers opened fire on what turned out to be other German soldiers, who returned the fire. They'd been on edge since occupying the city a week earlier with the civilian population opposed to them. A couple of drunks started a couple of fires, and the next thing was one of the great medieval libraries of Europe went up in flames, destroying everything. 248 Belgian civilians were taken out and executed.
Oh TC. I feel sick. It feels like waiting In the high school stadium stands at twilight just waiting for the team to get ahead of the scourge. Not liking the score on the board. Let’s put on the cleats and get off this time machine.
Kissinger’s book “Diplomacy” went into this in some detail with the warning that military men poised at the ready can strike before Diplomacy can react to stop them
Today, Monday, is my wife and my 24th wedding anniversary. From a previous marriage, I have fraternal twin daughters, and a 2 1/2 yr old granddaughter. As I read your post - and posts - I often think of my family and wonder what kind of future might either bless or befall them.
This is a foreboding time - which makes me all the more grateful for those fighting back the darkness with light, the lies with truth, the hate with love. That includes you, our sister Heather. Thank you.
Jean-Pierre! Happy Anniversary! More Light into the Universe on such a happy occasion. Enjoy each other and family today. So honored you shared the news with us!
Sending soundtrack in my head today. I find the beauty and simplicity of this song so hopeful and true.
America has few (if any) consistent allies in the Arab Middle East. President Biden’s initiative to obtain additional short-term petroleum production to make up the potential loss of Russian production has focused on the Arab OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) members: Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. So far, they have rejected his entreaties. They have also abstained on a. UN General Assembly resolution to condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
BACKGROUND
What is now called the Arab Middle East has been in turmoil for over 4,000 years. Originally it interested the West as an access route to Asia. More recently the discovery of oil has propelled a few Arab countries into a dominant position, especially after Suez and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
Several generations ago one spoke of the Arab Middle East as including Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,Jordan, and some Arabian Peninsula states. Since then Syria and Lebanon have become failed states, Iraq is in flux, and Jordan is an artificial country endeavoring to survive with foreign support.
Egypt, the most populous Arab Middle Eastern country, under President Sisi is an authoritarian state that seems to have limited influence in intra-Arab politics.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s 4th largest oil producer, under Mohamed bin Salman, has been semi-ostracized by the American government and some others.
The United Arab Emirates (a combination of 7 ‘countries’) is the world’s 12th largest oil producer. Dubai is by far the largest city and Abu Dhabi is its largest ‘country.’ Of the UAE’s 10 million population, nearly 9 million are classified as ‘immigrants.’
Early in its history the UAE supported some American military initiatives in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently it provided major military support to the Saudi war in Yemen, but recently has pulled back from this imbroglio.
Dubai has flourished as a supporter of Russian oligarch investments and is considered an accommodating harbor to yachts owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Qatar is a small peninsula in the Arabian Pennisula. It went from camels to Cadillacs to B-777s in less than two generations. It’s population of about 3 million includes about 2.5 million ‘expatriates’ and about 350,000 Qataris.
Qatar is the largest exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG) and the world’s 11th largest producer of petroleum. Surrounding states sought to isolate Qatar because of its relationship with Iran but this inter-Arab quarrel seems to have been patched up.
Kuwait, a small enclave in the Arabian Peninsula is the 17th largest producer of petroleum in the world and has the 6th largest proven petroleum reserves. It’s population of over 4 million includes the largest number of ‘stateless’ people in the region. In 1990, after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush organized a massive coalition, including several Arab countries, to oust Hussein from Kuwait.
Award-winning American journalist Brent Renaud was fatally shot while reporting outside Kyiv on Sunday, according to two Ukrainian officials. His death prompted an outpouring of grief from fellow colleagues and friends who recounted his unwavering devotion to telling the stories of others, even when it meant risking his own life.
Andriy Nebitov, the capital region’s police chief, said in a Facebook post that Renaud was “shot dead” in Irpin, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv that has seen heavy fighting and shelling between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent days.
I’ve been looking for you to weigh-in on the present military issues in Europe.
How do you assess former DNI Clapper’s comment featured in Tom Nichol’s Tweet below, that it’s only a matter of time before Putin steps over the NATO line?
I am convinced President Biden will be true to his word on NATO’s response to any such incursion.
My great concern, is that there will be an error, some miscalculation, that could serve as the trigger incident.
"My great concern, is that there will be an error, some miscalculation, that could serve as the trigger incident."
You and me both. Like I said, the Russians will finally do something so outrageous that all the cool collected serious thinking in the world won't matter.
That is the correct answer. That is why this is so dang tough. War has muddled and changed. And it’s why, TC, many including myself, have asked you, a military historian, to iron some of the wrinkles out of this current war scenario. As R Dooley correctly muses, it’s the trigger incident, and one is all it might take, that seems to be the “do not pass go”card.
I am asking constantly for fortitude and flint and foresight in our leaders.
Thank you for all of your knowledge and willingness to inform.
"Inside Putin's Russia" PBS Newshour special four years ago could be airing now. All of it is relevant and much of it sounds like it just came out. It covers a lot of bases about our challenges with Russia and with ourselves.
“Death rattle” indeed! Putin has little chance of surviving; he has cut himself off from any honorable means of retreat from Ukraine.
China has much to lose and little to gain by supporting Putin’s misadventure. Better to quietly remain neutral, let Putin twist in the wind, and pick up the pieces when he inevitably falls. China also now has a better idea of the likely consequences of a unilateral military seizure of Taiwan.
Ralph, your prognosis makes a great deal of sense. If in fact Putin is the only irrational leader. Nothing about Ukraine makes sense for Russia. I have long observed and felt that China unlike North Korea, has used it's huge population to build an overwhelming economic power that would someday control the world without ever firing a shot. And why fire a shot? The Roman, Dutch and English empires, Alexander the Great, Napoleon and others used armies to build great economic power which failed when their land masses became too great to manage, and their armies and political oppression insufficient. China can, like a internet operating system, can run almost unnoticed in the background and control everything. Of course all leaders with power seem to grow big heads and lose their minds.
I have thought Russia/Putin is insane to throw away its international economic relations for its irrational war crimes aggression in Ukraine. Russia has always been the aggressor driving all former Soviet states toward ties with the west. Even Belarus is overrun with Russian military, losing its independence, even trying to be a friend to Russia.
Russia has always pushed itself on countries that don't want anything to do with it. Speaking for Poland, Duda said it well.
"We do not want to be in the Russian sphere of influence, we dragged ourselves out of it, and we don't want to go back there.
"I was born in a state not fully sovereign, or free. When someone talks about Russian socialism or communism, a shiver goes down my spine. Never again do we want to have Soviet soldiers here, do we want a Russian sphere of influence here. It would be contrary to our laws and this is destroying us as a nation. This is a destruction of our traditions" (From the Guardian Ukraine live feed.)
I am sure Duda's statement reflects the sentiment of other former USSR states, which were involuntary subjugated to Russia's "sphere of influence" during and after WWII.
Military commentators here are saying the attack on the military training center close to the Polish border was a modest escalation, after warning that they would go for supply chains; primarily supplies of weapons from abroad. And the distance from the border was safe enough for their precision. The signal to Ukrainians was clear: Russia is capable of striking over the whole territory of Ukraine even if the western parts have been spared so far. - Of course it is easier to wage war against the unarmed.
There was a report from Moldova that they fear to be next on the list, if Odessa would fall to Russia. Moldova also has a Russian dominated district, Transnistria. In relation to the population, Moldova is the country that has received the highest number of refugees from Ukraine.
"Seize and sink." The democratic west should seize all Russian mega-yachts, tow them to the Black Sea, and let Ukranian air force pilots use them for target practice, destroy them all in retaliation for the intentional barbaric destruction of Ukraine infrastructure.
I'm sure that the Ukrainian pilots are not lacking in chances to "practice" especially with a big Russian fleet just of the coast from Odessa. Send them to the "knackers yards" in India perhaps as nobody is going to buy them.
Or let Ukrainian refugees (who love water) live on them in the Med. until the war ends. Turn them into floating hospitals. Make putin and oligarch's assets pay for them.
Thank you, Heather, for continuing to inform us of facts and truth about Putin’s War against Ukraine and the western world, while at the same time, reporting on disinformation and misinformation coming from the USA. And the threats from Putin to other countries’ leaders. What a tangled web that includes TFG and his supporters at the center plus Fox and Tucker just to begin the list. And the possibility of chemical weapons. Hard not to think about missed opportunities to stop TFG and his alliance with Putin in an Impeachment conviction that didn’t happen. A lot of hindsight.
Jeeze Irenie, I’m sure the worldwide community understands our hatred for the Gulag brothers, tucker and donny putin. Eventually the republicans here will figure it out as well.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.“
Jen Psaki is right. This IS preposterous. How dare former rep Gabbard get on the disformation pain train? Ceasefire to find nasty biolabs? How about a ceasefire in humanitarian corridors to let people get away from Putin’s labs of reigning hellfire, Tulsi?
And Tuckems? Quite sure he has nailed Putin’s memo with the victory statement regarding the information war’s narcissistic shill to his “I am the greatest” bulletin board. What in the Sam Hill is a Putin memo circulating amongst media outlets as a directive? Pffffft. I spit on it.
Not sure why, Professor, but your narrative tonight cuts right to my core. To think a President of the United States took us down this hateful, despicable rabbit hole. And we allowed it.
Pfffft. I feel ashamed tonight. Please, we must rise above this. Save Ukraine. Save us. Shut the damn door on treason.
United. ☮️
Rumor has it in my family that upon meeting up with Mussolini in Italy, my grandfather spat on the ground by M's feet. Shortly after, my grandfather ushered his family off to America. I wonder whatever he would say today.
Morning, Lynell! My father will be 99 in just a few days (hopefully). He told me a couple of years ago that he had been a Republican all his life, but had turned his back on the "party of traitors", as he put it. He said there is no honor among thieves, and that the 2 wars he fought in (WWII and Korea) were supposed to help this country stay above these types of behaviors. His last word on it was that, with someone like Trump as president, there was nothing he could see making it worth fighting for this country. I pray we aren't dragged into another war, but it could come to pass with the crazies out there in the world trying to take over their neighbors. Fortunately, my dad won't be able to join in. I echo others in saying "Pfffft". A pox on all of them.
My dad who will be 98 in June was a lifelong republican, too, and started not voting Republican because, as he says, "I didn't leave the party; the party left me." My brothers and I we4re relieved that we could get him to vote for Hillary even though he didn't like her. He saw her as the better choice.
Happy Birthday to your Dad, Alexander. "The party of traitors" indeed.
Alexander, I am awed that your father and Deborah's both still have the mental acuity to recognize that the party they believed in has changed its values. My father passed on at 97, Jan. 1 2020; my mother, on Jan. 4, 2022, 6 weeks shy of 100. It wasn't until I learned the history of the GOP from reading this newsletter and Heather's books that I finally understood why Dad was such a committed Republican. He had not learned the significance of what was happening in the past 40 years. Mom was a life-long, letter-writing, peace-marching liberal advocate. No excuses for most of my 7 younger sibs who still support tfg.
Many of those die-hard Republicans think they already know the answers and are not willing to do much reading. I do not know where I'd be without Heather's writings. And, I think the e majority of us readers do check to make sue we are not falling for lies, either. It's awesome overall, isn't it?
Listen to your father, Alexander...he knows of what he speaks...morning!!
Morning, Lynell. Interesting family and what a patriarch! Neither Mussolini nor Putin, from what we now see in Ukraine, are famed for their powers of organization as opposed to the power of their words. Happily your Grandfather managed to escape as are millions of Ukrainians.....and thousands of Russians who are Finland bound.
Morning, Stuart!! Not considered a deserter, he was in his sixties when he took his family to the U.S. (circa 1925) My grandmother was 60 when my mother (the last of 12 children) was born!
Good genes, big family, brave and strong! The sun just broke through here in NYC, Lynell. Let's prepare for the day. Good morning, friend.
Morning Fern, suns shining here in Paris.
Good morning, Stuart. Truly, good here on the forum today with Allen's face on it, aye!
A thousand times yes...Morning, Fern!
Mornin', Fern. No sun here in western MA
It will get to you. If not today, perhaps, tomorrow. Here's some, until then 🌞❤️☀️
❤️
Lordy, my Mom was 46 when youngest bro was born (8th). hadn’t heard of older woman giving birth, but never checked it out. Just in awe of my strong mother.
My Mom....42 when she had #14....I am #1 and was 19yrs old when she had my bro Joe. Strong women indeed!!!! All single births.
My girlfrirnd was born into a family of 8 kids…3 sets of twins! She was a twin, one singular gitl, 2 sets of boy twins, and then 1 singular boy. Her mom was also 42 at the time of last child and my girlfriend was 17. She felt like she was his mom.
Here's to your MOM and all her children!❤️🌞❤️
Yikes, 14!
At 46, being in awe is very appropriate, I'd say, Jeri.
See my comment above, and let me know how old your mother lived to be, or if she is still alive? I've known one woman in my own age bracket who had a child at that age without medical help.
My Mom was 40 when my sister was born (36 with me) and died at 82 in spite of being a lifetime smoker.
Brave, strong woman.
Indeed!
I love that you all met via HCR…a world away, brought together on a mission ❤️
Good Morning ☀️
That's fascinating about your grandmother's age when your mother was born. Statistically, women who have children at age 40 or beyond live longer than others. How old did your grandmother live to be?
My mother had 8 children, with the last one at 40. She just passed on 1/4/22, 6 weeks before her 100th birthday. She also took up running and long-distance bicycling in her 50s. She rode 40,000+ miles before stopping at 84.
How fabulous! Hope you are doing ok!
Your mother is a major inspiration! Hearing about her long life and athletic achievements after starting in mid life makes my day!
I was 42 when I had my one and only! I hope you are right 😌
Wow, morning, Cynthia. I am in awe of you!
Alas, she died at 68. But one big claim to fame for her was that she was pregnant during the voyage to the States, giving birth to my mother a mere month after landing on these shores.
Can’t ❤️this, Lynell but had she not had your mom, we might’ve not had the pleasure of your company. So I ❤️ you again!!
Oh Lynell, I am sorry..😢
Among the first cohort of women born on Pitcairn Island--children of the Bounty mutineers--three of them, out of between 15 and 18 (can't remember the precise number),three had their last children beyond age 40, at least one at age 44
I'm sorry to hear that.
Oh my God! Bless everyone in your incredible family ❤️❤️❤️
In my studies of leadership styles, the most highly effective was the “emergent” leader, who’s example set the tone for loyalty and engagement from the cohort. Least effective in those terms was the Authoritarian. Those types, leading only by fear of reprisal, eventually collapse of their ultimate loss of loyalty and support
In the meantime, chaos reigns
In this case, Authoritarian leads to MAD, as “leader” takes his ball, the “world” and says, if I can’t be leader, we’ll all die together
Regarding leadership, according to the Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell translation, ch. 17):
When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.
If you don't trust the people,
you make them untrustworthy.
The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"
I have heard of the concept of leading from behind. Seems to fit in with the Master leader. (Nelson Mandela) https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=8XMA3%2bw5&id=26C1497E22DB08E46BCADCCB80EDEB5E2EB4E4B5&thid=OIP.8XMA3-w5yGYBW3MaiGKx5wHaHa&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.pinimg.com%2f736x%2fe3%2f0d%2f65%2fe30d651926231eebe24e57e606e1b2b3.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.f17300dfec39c866015b731a8862b1e7%3frik%3dteS0Ll7r7YDL3A%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=736&expw=736&q=leading+from+behind&simid=608032344188284593&FORM=IRPRST&ck=29A3BE732DBFAD8F9BA8770B6ACA7BC9&selectedIndex=6&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0
I think Biden is up with those leaders who lead from behind, who isn't often seen.....note the criticism from D's who say he should defend his policies.
Or bound for Turkey.
Spit again. Right at Putin’s feet. And then figure out where safety is to get his family to.
Good morning, Lynell. Just an “interesting” aside. My mother’s cousin was married to an Italian gentleman (Bruno) who was one of Mussolini’s body guards during the war, and I had a conversation with him about a year before his death. He claimed that M was responsible for saving thousands of Italian’s lives by aligning with Hitler, and that saving these lives was his only reason for doing so. He still believed that M was a great man, a patriot. For his part, Bruno was imprisoned and sentenced to death. He managed to escape to South America, where he met my mom’s cousin who was serving as a missionary there.
"He claimed that M was responsible for saving thousands of Italian’s lives by aligning with Hitler, and that saving these lives was his only reason for doing so. "
I can tell you for the thousands of Jews sent to their deaths when M allied w/ Hitler that they might disagree with Italians being saved. Talk to the survivors of devastated Italian cities and towns that the Nazis used in their war of attrition against the Allied forces. M was under no more pressure than Franco of Spain to actively ally with the Nazis - even after the Nazis gave military aircraft and personnel to help Franco in the "civil war".
M really is the closest historical figure I can think of as the same malignant
narcissist as Trump. Trump wouldn't have given a hunter's damn if thousands of his minions were killed on 1/6/21. For all these insane people, losing ones life for them is to be expected as a natural course of events.
I completely agree with everything you say here. I was merely relaying what I had been told by a M loyalist.
Morning, Cathy. I guess it all boils down to "who you gonna believe?" So who was it who sentenced Bruno to death?
Lynell, I don’t know the specifics of his arrest and sentence, I never thought to ask. I did get the impression from things Bruno said that many of the men close to M suffered the same fate.
Can't get my "heart" button to engage...but wanted to acknowledge your comment!
I haven’t spit on the ground in a long time. I was drawing my line in the sand at dawn’s light today, Lynell.
Salud, my compatriot. ☮️
Salute, amico mio!
Good morning, Lynell. You spring from strong stock!
You as well, Ally...morning!!
Bless your grandfather, Lynell! If my dad had been in Germany or Italy at that time, he would’ve done the same. Alas, he, aJew from Poland, was sent to the Pacific Theater. Glad they both survived. Salud!
Salute, Marlene!
Too bad he didn't get to tug on his feet when Italian Partisans they strung that Fascist bastard up.
You have the right to be outraged, Christine! What is happening is absolutely outrageous!
We must and we will rise above all the trumpian, putinian, tuckerisms that are being spewed, like poison, into our minds. Our Earth will never be a union of putinian republics. We will not and cannot have trumpism ruling these United States EVER AGAIN, and tuckerisms should be declared treasonous and banned from the airways.
United, always, Christine! Courage, mon amie! Salud❣️❣️❣️We must learn from our Ukrainian kin and stand up to war and injustice en masse!🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦🌻🇺🇦
Absolutely! Now a line has been drawn in the soil of America.
Christine,
Putin has pulled a page from our own playbook around "bioweapons labs in Ukraine".
Right?
Remember when the on the ground weapons inspectors in Iraq were giving speeches and live interviews denying the lie that the USA was promulgating about "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq?
Yes, it is really hard to be self righteous while you have your hand on the wallet in someone else pocket.
I remember well, the whole fiasco was soon forgotten when republicans had Obama to blame for everything. Shame, shame, shame
Yes. In caps: SHAME ON THE REPUBLICANS FOR obstruction and anti-democracy acts and crimes against America. Supporting Putin and sedition are enought that they need to be ousted. Why are they still sitting in offices being paid by our taxes whilst they destroy our country and steal our rights? Geeze...
I remember it well. I watched that UN debate and was horrified that we were blaming France. It became quite popular to blame them. Does anyone else remember that?
Freedom Fries? 🤪
Love that last paragraph! It’d seem there are many who fit that description - follow the money - isn’t Carlson’s behavior tantamount to treason? He’s such a despicable lying talking head!
Cecile, I do believe Tucker Carlson would hide his traitorous behavior behind "Freedom of Speech". But, so far, he does not have to hide at all.
I would like to see the proverbial hook grab F**ker’s neck and drag him offstage to a paddy wagon awaiting to take him to a plane and depositing him in a desert unbeknownst to him or to us. No toilets, no wifi, no cell towers…
There must be demand for something like The Fairness Doctrine to be put in place to stop the lies.
I guess you're right, Mike. It's just my opinion that Freedom of Speech is one thing but there should be rules against out right lying and spinning outlandish and infamous stories that have no semblance of truth when you're in such a position of influence. Their positions, (at Fox) as broadcasters, need to be held to higher standards.
What is preposterous is the number of US citizens who have sucked up this garbage and are spewing it as the truth.
I have always wondered that too, Ally. Being in thrall to an authoritarian is attractive to many people; witness the thousands who attend Evangelical churches which hammer against homosexuality and abortions. In exchange they are given "family" and a sense of belonging.
I loathe them even as I still love all humans.
I simply loath them. No love. No like. All humans are not loveable.
I was thinking the same thing....blinded by their support of death star.
Dangerous
Who didn’t know that Tulsi was a TrojannHorse, and who didn’t know that Tucker was a traitor, just like chump. It was all very deliberate, Helsinki knew…
Tulsi is a DINO and a former one at that. She was in a closet somewhere. Why did she feel it necessary to raise her hand?
If it is of any help, American Pres. Biden is working with the international community to find responsible ways curb Putin.
He is so amazing. Just quietly working with careful contemplation while others smear, chide, yell, curse, hate, ignore.
Thank you, Professor: "But May couldn’t do much because Brexit had isolated England and then-president Trump refused to back her." Some here may disagree, but Brexit was a mad idea imo, and Britain is feeling the bite now. I will be there in a week to stay with my brother and I will experience it first hand. Too late for "if onlys" and I hope we learn from our mistakes! Meanwhile Ukraine suffers and stupidity remains here... history willl record the damage that trump has done. Fox "news" is owned by a foreigner, our country is upside down. Shame on Tulsi Gabbard!
I keep thinking of Allan, Tanya and Lucky, I haven't seen a post from him and I hope they are safe.
Keep in mind that Brexit was driven by those who are of the same ilk as out Cult45 ers.
I am well aware of that. :(
When Brexit passed, it shocked many Brits because, like our 2016 election, it wasn't supposed to fall that way. It was a grandstand gesture. Let us know what you experience. There have been products from Britain no longer available to us in Spain.
Will do.
My feelings exactly... little sleep and immense anger and frustration has left my ability to articulate my thoughts well!
I want to see Manafort and Trump take the dead man walk, and Carlson as well.
If I was able I would be on my way to Ukraine right now. At 70 years of age, I wouldn't be a great soldier, but I would hold and love as many babies and children I could reach.
Me, too, Cynthia. All's I got is $$ to donate as my fighting skills are limited these days.
It's so wonderful to do whatever we can.... 😘
Like Russian assets. That's how Gabbard, Carlson, TFG, and the rest are behaving. So I think the designation fits.
Perhaps unrelated, but I've wondered if back around the time of the (also) propaganda-driven war in Iraq, when Rumsfeld spoke disparagingly of "Old Europe," forces on the right signaling weak support for our traditional allies effectively gave a green light for the aggression and expansionism we see today from Russia. It's not much of a leap from that stance to the right's propaganda-induced realignment with Russia against our traditional, democratic, "Old European" allies. What colossal tragedy and darkness has unfolded since the weak Bush Jr. presidency.
Not surprised about Gabbard who has demonstrated her wing nut tendencies for a long time. Thankfully, she is no longer in Congress.
AMEN TO THAT!
Gabbard's been a Putin puppet for years. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/russia-s-propaganda-machine-discovers-2020-democratic-candidate-tulsi-gabbard-n964261
Yes Christine FL.. "we" did allow it. The real trouble (not dilemma, yet) is "we" must all face our selves in the mirror... we must look hard at 'the trouble' we "allowed". So, let's look hard at just How we did we allow this? Then comes the "dilemma"..ie, What To Do? Let's begin with the purveyors of mealy-mouthed crap, along with our cadre of non-voters. Notice I did not include Faux Noos. I'm speaking to ALL of us who are branded as LIBTARDS. Yeah, You & Me. We failed to be aggressive. OK, Who failed? Money'ed people failed to be real Americans. That's one! Then, there are the 'learned ones' amongst us who "failed" to engender unity. But more, you failed to apply techniques both above...and covertly (with a tinge of ethicality :) below the the tabletop. ALL of the above requiring $money$. We were after all voting for the only candidate who would surface..Joe Biden. And our support was blah blah almost disasterous.., instead of a true landslide. So, I hear ya, those of you who've read this far, saying okay Mad, do something besides create negative waves. Hahaha.. negative? Really!? Well, I lack $$$, and I lack 'clout' , but, I can darn sure see us backin up as an un-unified crowd, when we need to push forward with a strong front for our only hope.. Biden, the only shot we got!! And, I will add that unless we develop a real combined unified front to elect him,.. we will stumble in our own spit...for a long long time watching our diminishing circle of friends, along with you and I, as we wither away. If we haven't already been nuked, or biologically numbed by Pooch. Sorry.
Do not apologize. Looking in the mirror says it all.
First we need to keep the House and add seats in the Senate 2022.
Yes. And add strength to the whole package starting now.
Thank you Christine.. If you and I can incite some action, we're good!
Don't be.....We have some far left progressives here in Salem who are always looking for someone who checks all the boxes and continue to diss Biden when they should be pointing out what he has accomplished. Thankfully, the candidate for mayor of Salem who calls herself a socialist has suspended her campaign. So, now it's a sensible progressive and the fav of the Chamber of Horrors.
That's the way we do it. The word "socialist" rhymes with Commy-nist...It's a NON starter. We need to QUIT trying to educate people as to the dictionary of it. Sanders probably lost because of it. AOC shot herself in the foot because of the same stupidity. That's one of the reasons we are dubbed "libtards"...and rightly so.
The Fascist Far right did a great job in the Cold War era of conflating Socialism as synonymous with the dreaded "Godless" specter
of Communism.
The real irony for someone like myself who feels that Marx had it right in his critique of Capitalism (an amazingly prescient one given it Marx wrote prior to our Civil War) is that virtually every woe we suffer as a society has it causalities in the of enabling Capitalism, in all its unfettered, free-markets and rampant glory.
There is no need for anyone to become unglued by my opinion of Capitalism or even Marx. Because Capitalism is now morphing rapidly into a genuine return to Neo-Feudal Society. Seriously.
If anyone would like to engage this further, just let me know.
I think Marx was right on with his criticism of capitalism. I have explained this many times, but what I get is laugh emojis and sneering because I am educated. Our neighbor, a retired banker, gave one of the best critiques of what goes on now I have ever heard and this at the local level. I applaud calling what we are morphing into a new-feudal society. I have thought that too, but had not called it what it is. So, no debate from me.
It is. The person in question has a lot to offer, but won't get anywhere if she continues to id as a socialist. These folks are Bernie types and they haven't really thought through why he lost. Like the far right, they are unreachable. One of them does go film all the right wing nonsense. This week the local Hatred churches are running a 24 hour thing on the capitol grounds. God is definitely frowning on them because we are having lots of rain nearly all week long.
Thank you.
And to think people actually voted for her in the Presidential primary. So glad she didn’t do well. I think she is still in the reserve, yes? If so, can’t she be charged or court marshland or something and all clearances taken away?
Look, a top liked comment here is out of the same stable.
Agree completely. Why is Tucker Carlson even back on TV. Fox News has come very close to committing treason
Ya kno Bill, that whole bunch, is there because their *@#%$ messages have found a audience of Americans who are frustrated by "Every Thing"... You Name It. They are sick of it. And those networks add lies (""BS"") to fuel that anger. Anybody who tries to help them understand are dubbed LIBTARDSS. It will take a long time to wear that out.
Your last word. Treason. Or if not that, then surely sedition.
I could NOT agree more. Amen & amen…
We are 15 miles away from a World War and our country is on the verge of slipping into war at home. It feels as if the world we know (or knew) is teetering on a razor's edge.
All of this is by design. What you’re witnessing is a controlled demolition of the current global order in order to bring about a one world government/new world order.
Take the time to read the following two articles in the order presented, and arm yourself with knowledge:
https://tritorch.com/takeover
https://tritorch.com/united
"We shall have world government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether world government will be achieved by conquest or consent." -James Paul Warburg - In an address to the U.S. Senate, July 17th, 1950
“We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools.” -MLK Jr.
Why are Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum (WEF) people not called oligarchs?
It's the World Oligarch Forum (WOF)
Hmm, 3 hours have elapsed and he/she has responded to every reply but yours. 🤣 Good one Ellie!!
I read the first one for as long as I could...but my laughter was overcome by my need for a second coffee. The pandemic as a "tool for achieving world government"? Honestly, I think you may have a future in Hollywood - I love sci-fi and apocalyptic movies.
Really, you would be better served writing screen plays than hanging out here with us boring realists.
100% agree
This is really something you should take the time and watch Bill:
youtube.com/watch?v=D2t4u_tEefM
🤣🤣🤣 I thought my grandfather was long dead. This “vast conspiracy” nonsense keeps getting resurrected every generation. Sorry “tritorch”, you just wasted your $.
I am a "conspiracy theorist". I believe men and women of wealth and power conspire. If you don't think so, then you are what is called "an idiot". If you believe stuff but fear the label, you are what is called "a coward".
-David Cullum
youtube.com/watch?v=x-9ZppjeQQo
"The people assume we are just going back to the good old world which we had, and everything will be normal again, this is fiction, it will not happen....
Radical changes of such consequence are coming that some pundits have referred to as ‘before coronavirus’ (BC) and ‘after coronavirus’ (AC) era. We will continue to be surprised by both the rapidity and unexpected nature of these changes – as they conflate with each other, they will provoke second-, third-, fourth- and more-order consequences, cascading effects and unforeseen outcomes,"
-Klaus Schwab
You know, quoting other conspiracy theorists spouting tripe doesn't make your own tripe any more credible.
Ahhh... first a feeble attempt at backpedaling AND THEN more conspiracy theories. Save your $ next month.
Please, next you'll be warning us of the Trilateral Commission and the Illuminati. Absolute rubbish. Go bother people on 4CHAN. (Added a few minutes later - I read some of your posts - you actually do warn of the Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderberg Group, you're playing all the "one world government" hits...)
You may want to look at this:
http://tritorch.com/CFR
None of this is a conspiracy theory, and they are not hiding their agenda.
youtube.com/watch?v=YkcaeaD45MY
http://tritorch.com/bbb2
http://tritorch.com/WEFNWO
Again, rubbish. Just to take an excerpt from one of your posts:
"The conflict will decimate what remains of our supply chains at their most basic level, wreaking absolute havoc. Currencies - already on their last legs - will be deliberately hyper-inflated away all over the globe in order to pay for it. Our lives will be intentionally and irrevocably flipped upside-down.
Everyone will be demanding something be done and the pre-planned solutions will be one-world-government and CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies). These CBDCs will link with your social credit score, vaccine status, and carbon footprint in order to determine your eligibility - in real time - to participate or not participate in the economy."
Every one of your contentions is wildly exaggerated, or flat out fiction. Supply chains have been disrupted, they'll adjust. Currencies aren't "on their last legs" and we're not faced with hyper-inflation. There won't be one world government or central bank digital currencies - you don't understand crypto at all if you think that's where it's going. Nobody is going to tie our vaccine status to our credit score. Just a bunch of overwrought tripe.
I am astonished that some people here "Like" your posts. Usually we're more of a fact-based group. Please stop with this, don't pollute this online community.
This is full Alex Jones stuff and has no place on this forum.
CBDCs are waiting in the wings. They are intended to be turned on and off at will. Here is the president of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements - the central bank of central banks) speaking about having "permission" to use them:
"Central banks will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine that use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that."
youtube.com/watch?v=9FM4Fu2ujDE
Here is Jerome Powell talking about them:
youtube.com/watch?v=J9G-EuQn5yc
And at the Fed website:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/central-bank-digital-currency.htm
Ignore this at your peril.
Regarding the supply chains, here is nearly every major news organization reporting on them:
https://tritorch.com/famine
I researched CBDCs. You’ve totally distorted them, implying that they will be a “one world” currency with connections to a person’s credit scores and vaccine records. All rubbish (I use that term a lot in referencing your posts). A CBDC is a digital representation of a country’s currency, issued by that country’s central bank (The Fed, in the US). So, a US CBDC would be tied to the dollar, if the Fed issues one. The main difference between a CBDC and the dollar is that transactions will be verified by a block chain. This means that, if you get your paycheck as a CBDC transaction, you don’t have to wait 3-4 days for the funds to travel from your employers bank account to yours. The money would be in your account in seconds. And it would still be dollars.
You blew this fairly mundane digitization of a country’s currency exchange into a fictional, one-world, Orwellian nightmare. Why, what is wrong with you? Do you enjoy spreading baseless paranoia? Do you actually believe this garbage? The only peril here is in your mind.
JR I'll bet anything torch's buddies logged on today to "like" his/her ridiculous posts. Basically this comments section is getting spammed today. Also since they keep posting more and more nonsense it is probably best to just ignore them. I am.
JR I suspect, like me, you enjoy cuckoo clocks, but not cuckoo ideas. Back in 1956 I had a Quaker graduate school professor who was a devotee of world government and the UN as a real-world forum where all major international problems would be resolved. Since I refused to sing Kumbaya, it was a vexing class.
I am reminded of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which all animals were equal, except the pigs. I did witness one group that seemed to handle governance well—-it was a tribe of about 30 Mbuti pygmies in the southern Sudan who shared responsibilities between genders and respected their elders. This vanished when hunting and gathering morphed into the Agricultural Revolution.
As James Madison stated in the Federalist Papers, “If all men were angels, there would be no need for government, b…” We are not angels—far from it. World government in reality is a foo foo dust concept. If there were some devils in the group, which ‘angels’ would set them straight? Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Unless there is a profound change in human nature (a global lobotomy?),us non-angels require checks and balances nationally and, hopefully, in the world arena.
Up to 53 likes! Yikes! Some of Tritorchs claims are weirdly familiar to the reporting in this Vice article. 🤷🏻♀️ The mind is precious and needs tlc.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ayyqw/david-wilcock-ufo-conspiracy-theorist-covid-19-deep-state-ascension?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-vice&utm_content=later-7151116&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Instagram
It blows my mind that 53 people here could "Like" this stuff. Apparently the liberal version of Qanon has arisen.
JR, 53 aren't so many: there are quite a few infiltrators on here, it appears, occasionally posting. We're the "enemy", so apparently they are monitoring. This is not surprising- it's pretty much expected. But recently it seems to have gone into a higher gear, (though Tritorch appears to be from the fringe of something else). And then there are sometimes people who see something that lines up with what they think, so hit "like" (heart?) without really reading the piece with a critical eye. Tritorch has a way with words, but seems short in the critical thinking department, too. Though whoever it is could well be fully aware of what they are doing and using distorted reasoning to manipulate people. So much of that going around that sometimes it almost sounds normal. Scary, that.
For my own part, I clicked 'like' at first without looking at the links, and immediately removed my 'like' once I opened the links briefly and saw what nonsense they contained. I imagine there are some others who left a 'like' but didn't retract it like I did in the mix.
If I didn't value the HCR community so highly, I would just ignore the conspiracy mongers.
JR, ignore the mongers. They are not worth wasting time on. They are fishing to divert us and every time we respond directly they succeed. Ignore them and they go away. Once in a while one is so blatant someone calls them out. And sometimes it turns out they are wrong. (A newbie called me a troll once in a nasty post when I returned after an absence of a few weeks. That didn't last long. She learned both the etiquette and the community. Now we are friends.)
Enjoy the HCR community for what it is: voices of people who are seeking to understand what is going on and how they can best respond. We don't always agree, but by and large we get along, and, more importantly, we listen to each other and sort out the places where we have different approaches. In the process, we learn from one another, and I suspect, teach those invisible readers who come by (journalists, legislators or their staff, historians, and just other people like us who are trying to learn and are not so inclined to post here as others).
Like others, I take a break from time to time, but I always come back because, dang, I just plain like the people here. And today already I learned a whole new way of thinking about something that I want to explore more. That's the point. Not to win an argument or posture, but to learn and grow.
All you have to do is read a tiny bit to realize what you're dealing with. Holy Moly.
I don't think I have seen any "stuff" like this from my friends in these comments after HCR posts!
I think all the likes arose from quoting MLK at the end. So misplaced but so cunning.
By now, we all realize you are having fun with this. But your conspiracies are outdated and not trending. Here is something new and fresh. And...they are holding a rally this weekend!
https://birdsarentreal.com/
This guy is really on to something!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I love this! Who knew?
❤️
MLK was most certainly not talking about some kind of world order. And you cherry picked a person who apparently was obsessed with the world order topic and how to deal with Germany after WW2. "After World War 2, Warburg helped organized the Society for the Prevention of World War III in support of the Morgenthau Plan. According to Morgenthau's son, senior U.S. Treasury department official and alleged Soviet spy Harry Dexter White was influential in drafting the memorandum." Morgenthau was viewed as an extremist and sidelined.
You are leaping to vague and presumptive conclusions all around.
I used that quote to say that if we do not stop fighting among one another - Left vs Right, Gay vs Straight, Vaxxed vs Unvaxxed - and unite we will fall.
The media uses 'us vs them' as a divide and conquer tool. Of course MLK has nothing to do with the new world order:
The media - both news and entertainment - have now politicized nearly everything in our society as an extremely powerful mechanism of control.
Politicization is so effective at manipulating the populace because most people emotionally connect their personal belief system to the belief system of their political party, and so then any attack on their party - legitimate or otherwise - is interpreted by their brain as an attack on themselves. Reason and logic then jump out the nearest window as raw emotion takes the helm, thus making them even more susceptible to the predatory controlling influences.
This why people get upset when their beliefs are challenged:
A mental conflict occurs when beliefs are contradicted by new information. This conflict activates areas of the brain involved in personal identity and emotional response to threats. The brain's alarms go off when a person feels threatened on a deeply personal and emotional level, causing them to shut down and disregard any rational evidence that contradicts what they previously regarded as truth.
Gee tritorch" Confirmation bias. Who knew? Ivermectin anyone?
🤣
You used the MLK quote in direct connection to your world order comment.
Shush.
Can’t ❤️ this, Christine. 😁
Conspiracy theory, anyone?
It certainly is a conspiracy. Not a theory - although I wish it were:
youtu.be/XrAZz5-FIs0
How many times can someone like their own comment? Or have their friends do it?
HA!
Well it has been entertaining. Kind'a woke me up this morning.
Really? And mask/vaccination mandates are part of this? Really?
Very much so. Got five minutes?
youtube.com/watch?v=jRXR86wVSNw
youtube.com/watch?v=PxvNzzgoJX8
Hope Hubris
And if you think the disinformation campaigns will stop, just wait. Putin is crazy enough and conniving enough to start the next World War, and this one will make I and II look like child's play.
Have to wonder about that. Would his generals let him? Putin must be feeling a lot less secure than he was a couple of weeks ago, which might make him want to lash out. But the generals must be feeling even less secure, and might relish an order that would justify overthrowing him and making themselves heroes. This is all speculation, I admit, but isn’t that true of virtually all the speculation that is being so loudly trumpeted?
Jon, I think you are probably right about Putin AND his generals. It's happened before in Russia. But you also hit on a point that has been popping up: how much damage a person can cause when things don't go as they anticipated but they will not back down. I suspect it will take the combo of resistance by the Russian people to Putin, and his government refusing to follow commands because they really do not want this war. The sanctions are essential, and there is some word that at least a portion of ordinary Russian citizens agree. They know they are being shafted by the oligarchs. As for speculation, if it is based on past experience and current signals based on good intel and insight, it can give an idea of what's going on behind the scrim and help us anticipate possible scenarios. We just have to be willing to constantly revise as our information changes.
hitler was a poor general. his generals never moved against him. stalin got rid of his best generals because they were a threat. then along came ww2 and russia was in trouble. but stalin had to die (1953) before anyone (krushchev) denounced him and revealed his crimes. italians turned against mussolini when they started losing the war. the west would easily win a war with russia, if nuclear weapons are not used, a big IF. yes, 80% of german casualties in europe were on the russian front (so don't tell a russian that the us and britain won the war) but russia was on defense the whole time, until stalin forced the west to open a western front (d day). meanwhile, the us is so fond of saying 'dissent ends at the border." be careful what you wish for. russia is hiring mercenaries? blackwater, anyone? more and more it seems that putin has never had an original idea. he'll be dropping barrel bombs next. the farther west the war spreads, the better it is for ukraine. russian forces 'worked like russians.' that means two weeks day and night on a large but limited task, like bringing in a harvest, building a house, hacking into a computer system. if that doesn't get the job done, something is desperately wrong. the two weeks were up on friday the 11th. the russians should be 'sleeping on the stove' by now, but things did not work out for them. now it will get crazy, and desperate. ukraine, keep your hand on that plow, hold on. bad news travels fast, even in russia.
Don't know why I bother. Hitler's generals did move against him. They were outed, and died as a result. But they tried and are honored as heroes as a result. Not bothering with the rest of it. My eyes hurt. So does my head. Will say this: You are right that Putin has never had an original idea (long ago noted). But he has a very strong sense of survival. He is not predictable, but that doesn't mean he's a total fool.
Can’❤️this but that is what terrifies me about him.
Yes. One of those wars launched by Putin’s military and the other fed by his disinformation
There were no military supplies at that base. They are not stupid. It was a training centre only. Other than that HCR has it spot on as does TCfromLA.
We are in Warsaw and fly to Canada on Wednesday so Fern can stop sweating.
My kids are collecting money for Tanya to send directly to people we know of in and around Zhovti Vody but I have not figured out how to tap my LFAA friends yet. Am trying to figure out wise.com. We are not a registered charity, more like a Nigerian Prince Scam. Trust us just send money.
Allen. I had been sending money for fuel early on when a Ukrainian woman had a truck from Poland getting people across the border. Money went to a PayPal account and then to Inessa. We heard directly from her and how grateful she was. Her car had been bombed in Ukraine.
Try PayPal. We can get money to you and Tanya that way.
Keep us up to date where to send money, “Nigerian Prince”Allen.
Salud!
Info re PayPal: Established in 1998 as Confinity, PayPal went public through an IPO in 2002. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay later that year, valued at $1.5 billion. In 2015, eBay spun off PayPal to eBay's shareholders and PayPal became an independent company again.
Allen, trusting you and Tanya to let us know how to help. Wednesday and Canada! Holding you in the light. Safe travels.
Safe travels to Canada on Wednesday, Allen and Tanya. Keep us informed, please.
Allen, continued safe travels this week - I know all of us here in Heather's community will breathe a sigh of relief for this bright spot in all the grim darkness of the continued situation. And soon I'll get to say I know a Nigerian prince! 😄 Thanks for the smile from your comment.
Great to hear the good news, Alle,; for you and your family.
I agree with Christine: if you link a bank account to PayPal, people can contribute without being charged a fee. And the transactions are secure The only downside is that the mo**erfu**er who owns PayPal is a whacko Trumpista. So supporting him to do some good has a small effect, but at least he can't charge a fee.
He was one of the original founders of PayPal but no longer has anything to do with them. eBay bought PayPal 20 years ago. But, yes, he’s a horrible person.
Glad to hear it--there was a feature on Thiel couple weeks ago that suggested he was still involved with PayPal--and he is funding the misinformation campaign of TFG.
Absolutely correct, Linda. I close one eye and look askance every time I use PayPal. But there is no fee. I hope Allen lets us know soon. His kids are gathering money so perhaps we can send money through one of their pathways.
If we all had scruples and safe alternatives we would not use banks or credit cards either. Those institutions are robber barons on steroids.
Didn’t know that about the owner. I hardly use it. Now it’s never. Thanks.
No, the owner of PayPal is ebay.
Ebay either has, or is in the process of divesting.
"It was announced on September 30, 2014, that eBay would spin off PayPal into a separate publicly traded company, a move demanded in 2013 by activist hedge fund magnate Carl Icahn. The spin-off was completed on July 18, 2015.[44][45][46] Dan Schulman is the current president and CEO, with former eBay CEO John Donahoe serving as chairman.[43] On January 31, 2018, eBay announced that "After the existing eBay-PayPal agreement ends in 2020, PayPal will remain a payment option for shoppers on eBay, but it won't be prominently featured ahead of debit and credit card options as it is today. PayPal will cease to process card payments for eBay at that time." The company will "instead begin working with Amsterdam-based Adyen".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal
Thanks.
Allen, so glad to hear you're safe and on the way to Canada.
Would GoFundMe be a resource?
https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/donate-to-ukraine-relief
Fern wasn't the only one sweating. What a relief. But how sad, that lives should be altered - or ended - in such a way.
Look up Anne-Louise. Allen in here and on his way to Canada 🍁⬜🟥
O Canada! There's an echo here of Harriet Tubman's underground railway.
🟥⬜
Now, I am sweating and so is my cash. Moisture is good as long as it's not a flood. Hi there, Allen. I wiped the sweat off my brow and ready for your request. I'm smiling at you, Allen and at Tanya, too! 💓💗❤️🌞🪴🌻
I’m so glad you and Tanya are safe and on the way! Whew! Godspeed, safe travels. I’ll wait for your source for donations. ❤️
Ditto!
Good to hear, Allen, that you are in Poland. Praying for your safety and safe travels to Canada.
Joining the others in expressing our support and relief that you all are getting out of harm's way. I know your heart aches at having to leave your home and animals--I can't imagine--but we're all hoping and praying that somehow, sometime down the road you'll be able to return. It sounds like your fur-babies are going to be looked after and maybe they're used to you all going off for periods of time? When I lived in The Netherlands, my two cats were very used to my being gone on performing tours for days at a time, and I would go on extended visits to the States for up to a month or more. My girls were always looked after and were nevertheless glad to see me--well, as glad as cats can be...more like "Glad you're back...where TF have you been?...feed me!" My prayer is you can all be united sooner rather than later. God be with you and safe travels!
🤩Bruce, your girls must be related to my boy cat)!!
As you can tell from so many responses here, you are always in our thoughts. So very glad you are on your way to Canada and safely.
I love all of you good people!
God Speed
💙💛
Great News Alan! Happy Trails to you and Tanya, and look forward to being able to help folks directly in Ukraine.
Allen, so relieved to hear that you all are safe!
Turd Trump and Feces Putin have splattered their droppings across our country and the world. It is time to flush these Big Chunks down the toilet and refocus on the serious issues that affect us all.
Climate change, nuclear weapons, the realities of diversity, gross economic inequality, recognition of workers’ rights, fair global trade, appropriate child and health care…and much more.
We are in a swiftly-changing world. If we choose, WE have the capability to make it somewhat better. So let us all work together towards a better world rather than engage in lose-lose internecine battles.
Well, I for one do not think it's 100% certain Putin will strike NATO, at least not yet. I DO think it's only a matter of time on the chemical weapons, however. The Russians have an entirely different view on them and their use than we do--in fact, their words to this point are more for international and Western consumption than anything else. Something else, ahem, concerning: to keep it general, I was part of contingency planning for Syria when THEY used chemical. First, to dispel plenty of OUR OWN (Western media) conspiracy theories: yes, the Syrians used them, and yes we had the goods. 100%, so please, don't anyone argue with me (got into it with Seymour Hersh, of all people, about this. I was right, he was wrong). Want to hear the crazy part? The Russians believed the Syrians. I don't mean in their public statements, I mean their actual assessment. That was a disturbing, "wow," moment. So no, despite their long history of sober analysis on serious matters like nuclear war, I don't entirely have faith in the Russian intelligence apparatus these days. That bears mindfulness.
That said, I think Putin's actions vis-a-vis NATO are still of the probing kind. He surely noticed much greater solidarity from the alliance than was expected, at least so far, and now he's checking for cracks--hoping some of the lesser members will break ranks (looking at you, Viktor Orban, to start talking about "special considerations," or some other nonsense). I'll give you one factor possibly in play, that few (Samo Burja is an exception) have mentioned: the air umbrella. Most of the U.S.'s and NATO's apprehension about a No-Fly Zone is as-advertised. No-Flys have always been the domain of politicians with no actual skin in the game (like U.S. Senators) to sound tough, but seldom make much sense--for lots of practical reasons. In this case, yes such a thing would practically be asking for a confrontation. And here's the thing (and a reason the whole jet fighter thing is also mostly propaganda): the Russians have really, REALLY good AD. Like, good enough that, my uneducated guess is it might take WEEKS for us to feel safe flying planes over Ukraine. Worse, even then, there are undoubtedly assets in Russia and Belarus that could affect that airspace (no one ever mentions this) that we're VERY wary of and not ready to commit to engaging. For evidence of this, look no further than the Ukrainians themselves: I saw two days ago that most of their AF is...still intact. They're simply not flying much. The reason given was that the Russians have so many more planes in the air. I disagree--the Ukrainians are NOT afraid of a fight in the face of superior numbers (look on the ground). No--they don't want them shot down by ADA. Putin, meanwhile, knows this and is undoubtedly trying to get more of them in the air so he CAN shoot them down. This is why the whole Polish Mig-29 thing is more theater than reality: they'd be sitting on the ground TOO. My point is, Russia might VERY WELL feel they can hold their own with NATO in the air and feel VERY confident they can not only provoke, but even shoot down a couple of planes and have themselves a big PR coup...and what are we gonna do then, start a nuclear war over it? Putin's thinking and calculating such things, yes... My guess is, whatever air patrols we're flying now are getting told a LOT of things to look for in their flight briefs. This is a very complex situation, with TONS of probing activity going on we don't even hear about, and panacea "solutions" like No-Flys are simply inadequate thinking/planning regarding the actual operating area.
Wow. Thank You Robert. This makes perfect (if terrifying) sense.
Thank you for the analysis.
I want to point out that Russia's assertion that the US will use migratory birds, insects and bats to wage chemical warfare on its European allies is just poppycock from so many angles. For instance, birds generally migrate from north to south, not east to west, in search of a warmer climate. Now that spring is coming, those birds will migrate north.
I did check to see if any birds migrate east to west, and found that a couple Siberian birds have started this migration route due to global warming. But - those Siberian birds are migrating back to Siberia now that spring is coming. So Russia's theory fails in this respect, as well.
And then, how will the US infect all of these birds, insects and bats (how many will be inoculated) without exposing themselves to the chemicals?
This propaganda is sheer poppycock.
Imagine the right's response if Russian media was told to feature video of a left-leaning journalist or politician as pro-Russian propaganda. It would be nonstop coverage for weeks. This news about Carlson is both unsurprising and will not be mentioned by the right and quickly forgotten by the left.
This is the type of disparity in our media and the way in which Americans receive their information that Russian propaganda exploits. They know that there will always be an audience receptive to whatever message they're pushing, that the attempts to counter that message with the truth will likely not even find that audience, and if that audience does hear the refutation against the propaganda they'll see it as some kind of evidence of a conspiracy to silence "the truth" and harden their position even further.
Unless fox Fox News and other right leaning media outlets face some kind of consequences for pushing blatantly false information we will always be vulnerable to this kind of attack.
This is looking more and more not like September 1939, and instead more and more like June 28-August 3, 1914. I just re-read the final chapter of Robert K. Massie's "Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War." This is starting to feel exactly like that. Not history repeating itself but certainly a lot of rhyming going on. If Putin commits one more outrage, it's going to be like the German Army burning Louvain in August 1914.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Louvain
Dreadnought A Proud Tower and the War That Ended Peace. Two years ago I said it felt like 1913. You are right. It is now 1914
Allen, I have just marked all 3 to read. Glad you're safe and have a good plan. Let us know where to send $.
TC, with Holocaust atrocities perpetrated by Hitler's crew and Ukrainian atrocities perpetrated by Putin's crew, a maniacal individual can be identified as the director. What individual(s) were behind the Louvain mass killing and destruction?
Drunken German soldiers opened fire on what turned out to be other German soldiers, who returned the fire. They'd been on edge since occupying the city a week earlier with the civilian population opposed to them. A couple of drunks started a couple of fires, and the next thing was one of the great medieval libraries of Europe went up in flames, destroying everything. 248 Belgian civilians were taken out and executed.
Do you see the possibility of China interceding and getting Putin off the edge?
Who knows what the Chinese will do? It works against their national self-interest, but "solidarity" may mean something to them still.
Ugh
Oh TC. I feel sick. It feels like waiting In the high school stadium stands at twilight just waiting for the team to get ahead of the scourge. Not liking the score on the board. Let’s put on the cleats and get off this time machine.
Kissinger’s book “Diplomacy” went into this in some detail with the warning that military men poised at the ready can strike before Diplomacy can react to stop them
Reminds me of a fascinating book I read years ago, Thunder at Twilight by Fredric Morton, during that same timeframe 1913--1914, Vienna and Europe.
Dear Heather and LFAA community -
Today, Monday, is my wife and my 24th wedding anniversary. From a previous marriage, I have fraternal twin daughters, and a 2 1/2 yr old granddaughter. As I read your post - and posts - I often think of my family and wonder what kind of future might either bless or befall them.
This is a foreboding time - which makes me all the more grateful for those fighting back the darkness with light, the lies with truth, the hate with love. That includes you, our sister Heather. Thank you.
My second grandson was born less than 48 hours ago. I too share your sense of apprehension regarding the world he'll encounter decades from now.
He will be loved, JP.
Congratulations other JP ;-) and ditto what Fern wrote. ❤️+💙=💜
Happy Anniversary, Jean-Pierre, Happy husband, father and grandfather...🪴🌞🌿
Thank you Fern. :-)
🎼🎶🎺🎷📯🥁🎹❤️
Jean-Pierre! Happy Anniversary! More Light into the Universe on such a happy occasion. Enjoy each other and family today. So honored you shared the news with us!
Sending soundtrack in my head today. I find the beauty and simplicity of this song so hopeful and true.
Salud!
https://youtu.be/H46yXW4qR_M
Thank you Christine. Dang, that was lovely! 🎹
Very happy anniversary to you both!
Thank you Daria. :-)
Congratulations on your anniversary and for your loving family, Jean-Pierre!🎉🎉
AMERICA’S ARAB ALLIES?
America has few (if any) consistent allies in the Arab Middle East. President Biden’s initiative to obtain additional short-term petroleum production to make up the potential loss of Russian production has focused on the Arab OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) members: Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. So far, they have rejected his entreaties. They have also abstained on a. UN General Assembly resolution to condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
BACKGROUND
What is now called the Arab Middle East has been in turmoil for over 4,000 years. Originally it interested the West as an access route to Asia. More recently the discovery of oil has propelled a few Arab countries into a dominant position, especially after Suez and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
Several generations ago one spoke of the Arab Middle East as including Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,Jordan, and some Arabian Peninsula states. Since then Syria and Lebanon have become failed states, Iraq is in flux, and Jordan is an artificial country endeavoring to survive with foreign support.
Egypt, the most populous Arab Middle Eastern country, under President Sisi is an authoritarian state that seems to have limited influence in intra-Arab politics.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s 4th largest oil producer, under Mohamed bin Salman, has been semi-ostracized by the American government and some others.
The United Arab Emirates (a combination of 7 ‘countries’) is the world’s 12th largest oil producer. Dubai is by far the largest city and Abu Dhabi is its largest ‘country.’ Of the UAE’s 10 million population, nearly 9 million are classified as ‘immigrants.’
Early in its history the UAE supported some American military initiatives in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently it provided major military support to the Saudi war in Yemen, but recently has pulled back from this imbroglio.
Dubai has flourished as a supporter of Russian oligarch investments and is considered an accommodating harbor to yachts owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Qatar is a small peninsula in the Arabian Pennisula. It went from camels to Cadillacs to B-777s in less than two generations. It’s population of about 3 million includes about 2.5 million ‘expatriates’ and about 350,000 Qataris.
Qatar is the largest exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG) and the world’s 11th largest producer of petroleum. Surrounding states sought to isolate Qatar because of its relationship with Iran but this inter-Arab quarrel seems to have been patched up.
Kuwait, a small enclave in the Arabian Peninsula is the 17th largest producer of petroleum in the world and has the 6th largest proven petroleum reserves. It’s population of over 4 million includes the largest number of ‘stateless’ people in the region. In 1990, after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush organized a massive coalition, including several Arab countries, to oust Hussein from Kuwait.
And not one democracy between them
Award-winning American journalist Brent Renaud was fatally shot while reporting outside Kyiv on Sunday, according to two Ukrainian officials. His death prompted an outpouring of grief from fellow colleagues and friends who recounted his unwavering devotion to telling the stories of others, even when it meant risking his own life.
Andriy Nebitov, the capital region’s police chief, said in a Facebook post that Renaud was “shot dead” in Irpin, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv that has seen heavy fighting and shelling between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent days.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/13/brent-renaud-killed-ukraine/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_worldview&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3650b19%2F622ebf529d2fda34e7d03668%2F596bd999ade4e24119bba10c%2F13%2F50%2F622ebf529d2fda34e7d03668
Morning TC,
I’ve been looking for you to weigh-in on the present military issues in Europe.
How do you assess former DNI Clapper’s comment featured in Tom Nichol’s Tweet below, that it’s only a matter of time before Putin steps over the NATO line?
I am convinced President Biden will be true to his word on NATO’s response to any such incursion.
My great concern, is that there will be an error, some miscalculation, that could serve as the trigger incident.
Here in Germany, things are quite tense.
Would welcome your thoughts.
"My great concern, is that there will be an error, some miscalculation, that could serve as the trigger incident."
You and me both. Like I said, the Russians will finally do something so outrageous that all the cool collected serious thinking in the world won't matter.
There. Are. No. Easy. Answers. Here.
That is the correct answer. That is why this is so dang tough. War has muddled and changed. And it’s why, TC, many including myself, have asked you, a military historian, to iron some of the wrinkles out of this current war scenario. As R Dooley correctly muses, it’s the trigger incident, and one is all it might take, that seems to be the “do not pass go”card.
I am asking constantly for fortitude and flint and foresight in our leaders.
Thank you for all of your knowledge and willingness to inform.
Thank you, TC.
Sad news. Thanks, TC.
🥺😢😤 One of our own…
"Inside Putin's Russia" PBS Newshour special four years ago could be airing now. All of it is relevant and much of it sounds like it just came out. It covers a lot of bases about our challenges with Russia and with ourselves.
https://youtu.be/_AkAZIk73F0
Thank you
Thanks for this, David.
What can Putin’s death rattle offer China compared to the goodwill of the world?
“Death rattle” indeed! Putin has little chance of surviving; he has cut himself off from any honorable means of retreat from Ukraine.
China has much to lose and little to gain by supporting Putin’s misadventure. Better to quietly remain neutral, let Putin twist in the wind, and pick up the pieces when he inevitably falls. China also now has a better idea of the likely consequences of a unilateral military seizure of Taiwan.
Ralph, your prognosis makes a great deal of sense. If in fact Putin is the only irrational leader. Nothing about Ukraine makes sense for Russia. I have long observed and felt that China unlike North Korea, has used it's huge population to build an overwhelming economic power that would someday control the world without ever firing a shot. And why fire a shot? The Roman, Dutch and English empires, Alexander the Great, Napoleon and others used armies to build great economic power which failed when their land masses became too great to manage, and their armies and political oppression insufficient. China can, like a internet operating system, can run almost unnoticed in the background and control everything. Of course all leaders with power seem to grow big heads and lose their minds.
The rumours of his death may be greatly overstated. 😉
He isn’t politically dead yet, but he sure is working in that direction.
I don’t see any way he gets out of this mess alive.
I have thought Russia/Putin is insane to throw away its international economic relations for its irrational war crimes aggression in Ukraine. Russia has always been the aggressor driving all former Soviet states toward ties with the west. Even Belarus is overrun with Russian military, losing its independence, even trying to be a friend to Russia.
Russia has always pushed itself on countries that don't want anything to do with it. Speaking for Poland, Duda said it well.
"We do not want to be in the Russian sphere of influence, we dragged ourselves out of it, and we don't want to go back there.
"I was born in a state not fully sovereign, or free. When someone talks about Russian socialism or communism, a shiver goes down my spine. Never again do we want to have Soviet soldiers here, do we want a Russian sphere of influence here. It would be contrary to our laws and this is destroying us as a nation. This is a destruction of our traditions" (From the Guardian Ukraine live feed.)
I am sure Duda's statement reflects the sentiment of other former USSR states, which were involuntary subjugated to Russia's "sphere of influence" during and after WWII.
Russian military entered Belarus to prop up its dictator Lukashenko when the populace was on the verge of driving him out.
Apparently a mega yacht.
(Sweden)
Military commentators here are saying the attack on the military training center close to the Polish border was a modest escalation, after warning that they would go for supply chains; primarily supplies of weapons from abroad. And the distance from the border was safe enough for their precision. The signal to Ukrainians was clear: Russia is capable of striking over the whole territory of Ukraine even if the western parts have been spared so far. - Of course it is easier to wage war against the unarmed.
There was a report from Moldova that they fear to be next on the list, if Odessa would fall to Russia. Moldova also has a Russian dominated district, Transnistria. In relation to the population, Moldova is the country that has received the highest number of refugees from Ukraine.
"Seize and sink." The democratic west should seize all Russian mega-yachts, tow them to the Black Sea, and let Ukranian air force pilots use them for target practice, destroy them all in retaliation for the intentional barbaric destruction of Ukraine infrastructure.
I like the plan. Visual you painted, Kathy, helping me get my equilibrium back after Heather’s Letter tonight.
I'm sure that the Ukrainian pilots are not lacking in chances to "practice" especially with a big Russian fleet just of the coast from Odessa. Send them to the "knackers yards" in India perhaps as nobody is going to buy them.
Love this. But maybe a better use would be to sell the yachts, and give the money to Ukrainians to fund their defense against Russia.
If I had the money to maintain it, I’d sure like to have one of them…
Or let Ukrainian refugees (who love water) live on them in the Med. until the war ends. Turn them into floating hospitals. Make putin and oligarch's assets pay for them.
Thank you, Heather, for continuing to inform us of facts and truth about Putin’s War against Ukraine and the western world, while at the same time, reporting on disinformation and misinformation coming from the USA. And the threats from Putin to other countries’ leaders. What a tangled web that includes TFG and his supporters at the center plus Fox and Tucker just to begin the list. And the possibility of chemical weapons. Hard not to think about missed opportunities to stop TFG and his alliance with Putin in an Impeachment conviction that didn’t happen. A lot of hindsight.
Jeeze Irenie, I’m sure the worldwide community understands our hatred for the Gulag brothers, tucker and donny putin. Eventually the republicans here will figure it out as well.
Pat, just a reminder!
Sure, go for it. It’s after midnight!
Working around the sanctions.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.“
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-considers-buying-discounted-russian-oil-commodities-officials-say-2022-03-14/
Everything is about 💰. Everything.
Same reason OPEC won’t help us. High oil prices =💰💰💰