“The decision of OPEC+ to cut production is not simply about prices. It is about the ongoing struggle over democracy playing out in Ukraine, as the Ukrainians fight off the Russian invaders.”
“The decision of OPEC+ to cut production is not simply about prices. It is about the ongoing struggle over democracy playing out in Ukraine, as the Ukrainians fight off the Russian invaders.”
Sorry, Mike. But it’s Putin’s mouth to Trump’s ear that we have to think about. I wonder if it’s Putin who told Trump both what to take with him and how to disguise them.
maybe - maybe not. if he goes... who do we think will step in?? probably not someone we're gonna like. Putin's big 7-0 birthday is tomorrow (10/7) ... not sure how that bodes for anyone, including him.
Suz, you’ll have to pardon me but I don’t give a shit about Putin’s birthday. I do care about the atrocities that he has committed and is continuing to do. He has one finger on the button that could obliterate the human race and the other is in his ear so that he doesn’t hear his generals talking sense into him. He’s insane and should be taken out with whatever force possible. Navalny should be freed and take over Russia.
Yes please! You have plenty of support in your wishing Putin gone, and a popular leader like Navalny replace him. Wasn't one of the things Navalny based his protests on was corruption of Putin and the Russian Oligarchy? I suppose it would be to much to ask of a country with a history like Russia, to pick and elevate a good leader. As a country, they have almost never chosen wisely. It almost always is the meanest dirtiest mad dog who comes out on top!
Whether it's Ivan the Terrible, Peter I, Catherine II, Stalin or Putin, "chosen" is the wrong word.
Now there are immensely powerful forces at work in the world and, crucially, in the United States set on turning country -- and planet -- into places where choice is unknown, because stolen and stashed away by a bunch of self-appointed oligarchs.
Snyder has written well about this.
Now we're coming to the crunch.
Expect a very hard ride over the coming three years. And so work that the pains we shall face end in a new birth!
Iin! Good to see you back in this forum! I had been wondering about you, since the last time I saw one of your postings, you were bring harassed by Leonard Leo’s “law enforcement” cronies. Hope you are well!
Yes Peter. I am fully aware of this. I agree chosen is a bad verb choice with regards to much of anything regards to people ruling in Russia. Eisenhower warned us about letting lose the power and money of the military industrial complex in this country. Then Reagan did it. Once the business sector of the US got the bit in it's cheeks, they have been tearing down first the societal safety net. Now that and workers rights,
safety, and recompense have also been compromised, they are close to taking away our political and personal rights and freedoms to make us basically slaves to their greedy grab of all Earth's Resources including human.
I, like others in these posts give every cent I have plus anything I can borrow to Democratic Candidates! Go Blue! Whoops, that should be Vote Blue! I accidentally got my cheers mixed up, because I am also a Michigan Wolverine Fan.
AGREE!! Except Go Green!!! Michigan State class of '74! Later taught for that wolverine school though, and 2 of my kids graduated from U of M. We are blessed in Michigan!
That is perhaps an apt metaphor, in that free choice ultimately boils down to a single choice (and currently the wrong one seems dominant, leading away from truth).
Apart from that, I find Asimov's cosmology, with its materialism and its imperial delusions, telling but troubling. Rather like the Raelian cult... And Musk...
Russia isn’t hiding behind a flag. We know its history and that it’s not a democracy. And with Putin at the top, the people aren’t picking their leader. Elections are a sham. And then there is our country, a democracy that is in danger of losing its way, a two party system with one party embracing lies and following TFG, a wannabe king. Our elections and our courts are endangered. Robert Reich in a recent “Coffee Klatch” asks, “Does Trump want to be the next messiah?” https://robertreich.substack.com/p/does-trump-want-to-be-the-next-messiah?r=ele1&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
This is no time for mean, carping comments on a man who is being slowly tortured to death for defending truth and freedom. And still defiant, still answering back...
The flirtation with nationalists took place long ago. It was a tactical error, but not a foolish one, at a time when Navalny and others were seeking a practical foothold from which to oppose Putin's all-powerful gangsters' regime.
An error long since surmounted.
If you can think of any political leader now living who shows comparable qualities, I am all ears.
And let us never confuse nationalism with true love of country. Least of all at a time when the only place for an upright citizen in a corrupt empire is in prison. Or in an unmarked grave.
Unless we too stand up and resist the encroaching forces of tyranny, we too may soon find ourselves having to live in such a land.
The snag is, that Russia, culturally, has always been a suppressed culture (except for the aristocrats). They have never experienced what we hold to be democracy (and yes,
ours is quite tainted). There are plenty, I gather, who would like to take Putin's position - who'd be far worse - think Kadarov. Navalny wouldn't stand a chance.
Well... I'm concerned that not only has he backed himself into a corner... now he's feeling that he's becoming more and more irrelevant.. and OLD (especially for a Russian man!!)
So that... to me... makes him even more dangerous and the world situation more precarious. I can well imagine him choosing his big 7-0 to launch a nuclear attack... or worse... THAT's why i mention his birthday. I've been watching the calendar since the invasion, knowing that this big birthday for him... happens soon. And now, it's tomorrow. Hoping he doesn't choose to do anything even more insane.. however it certainly wouldn't surprise me. That's all.
I am 71. I don’t consider myself old. I consider myself and others in my age group to be active and rather savvy. Putin is insane and a dicktator which aligns with Trump’s base of Nazis.
this isn't about how we see ourselves. we're not this crazy, Russian macho man who's mostly isolated himself, looking and feeling weak with such a fragile ego... and is now bringing his 'tactical' nukes by train, across Russia... supposedly to the battlefield... for what???? we don't need nuclear war...!!!
Yes. But it’s Republican presidents who started these wars. Particularly two oil men Bushes. Has anyone out there a copy of the Le Monde week-end magazine section on the Bush family (2018?)?
“The decision of OPEC+ to cut production is not simply about prices. It is about the ongoing struggle over democracy playing out in Ukraine, as the Ukrainians fight off the Russian invaders.”
RasPutin has got to go!!!
Putin's presence or absence has no significant impact on America's current challenges.
Whoever happens to be the current Stalin like figure in Russia will not reduce or eliminate the right wing threat moving forward in America.
But Vlad allies with our evil to an extent that I don’t recall before. From even before Helsinki…
Jeri,
Vlad looks like a choir boy compared to Stalin. No joke.
Sorry. Putin is KGB/Stasi. That’s Stalin’s grandson. Cruelty is part of training.
Sorry, Mike. But it’s Putin’s mouth to Trump’s ear that we have to think about. I wonder if it’s Putin who told Trump both what to take with him and how to disguise them.
maybe - maybe not. if he goes... who do we think will step in?? probably not someone we're gonna like. Putin's big 7-0 birthday is tomorrow (10/7) ... not sure how that bodes for anyone, including him.
Suz, you’ll have to pardon me but I don’t give a shit about Putin’s birthday. I do care about the atrocities that he has committed and is continuing to do. He has one finger on the button that could obliterate the human race and the other is in his ear so that he doesn’t hear his generals talking sense into him. He’s insane and should be taken out with whatever force possible. Navalny should be freed and take over Russia.
Yes please! You have plenty of support in your wishing Putin gone, and a popular leader like Navalny replace him. Wasn't one of the things Navalny based his protests on was corruption of Putin and the Russian Oligarchy? I suppose it would be to much to ask of a country with a history like Russia, to pick and elevate a good leader. As a country, they have almost never chosen wisely. It almost always is the meanest dirtiest mad dog who comes out on top!
Whether it's Ivan the Terrible, Peter I, Catherine II, Stalin or Putin, "chosen" is the wrong word.
Now there are immensely powerful forces at work in the world and, crucially, in the United States set on turning country -- and planet -- into places where choice is unknown, because stolen and stashed away by a bunch of self-appointed oligarchs.
Snyder has written well about this.
Now we're coming to the crunch.
Expect a very hard ride over the coming three years. And so work that the pains we shall face end in a new birth!
Work to elect Democrats to every office.
GOTV 2022
Crucial, Lin.
But only a beginning.
There must be more citizen participation if the new sapling democracy, scion of the old tree, is to survive and flourish.
More reaching up and reaching down, more meeting and more sharing, in the American family.
I do, with my measly retirement “largesse”.
Iin! Good to see you back in this forum! I had been wondering about you, since the last time I saw one of your postings, you were bring harassed by Leonard Leo’s “law enforcement” cronies. Hope you are well!
Yes Peter. I am fully aware of this. I agree chosen is a bad verb choice with regards to much of anything regards to people ruling in Russia. Eisenhower warned us about letting lose the power and money of the military industrial complex in this country. Then Reagan did it. Once the business sector of the US got the bit in it's cheeks, they have been tearing down first the societal safety net. Now that and workers rights,
safety, and recompense have also been compromised, they are close to taking away our political and personal rights and freedoms to make us basically slaves to their greedy grab of all Earth's Resources including human.
I, like others in these posts give every cent I have plus anything I can borrow to Democratic Candidates! Go Blue! Whoops, that should be Vote Blue! I accidentally got my cheers mixed up, because I am also a Michigan Wolverine Fan.
AGREE!! Except Go Green!!! Michigan State class of '74! Later taught for that wolverine school though, and 2 of my kids graduated from U of M. We are blessed in Michigan!
Yes, thank you Peter.
a Seldon Crisis
That is perhaps an apt metaphor, in that free choice ultimately boils down to a single choice (and currently the wrong one seems dominant, leading away from truth).
Apart from that, I find Asimov's cosmology, with its materialism and its imperial delusions, telling but troubling. Rather like the Raelian cult... And Musk...
Russia isn’t hiding behind a flag. We know its history and that it’s not a democracy. And with Putin at the top, the people aren’t picking their leader. Elections are a sham. And then there is our country, a democracy that is in danger of losing its way, a two party system with one party embracing lies and following TFG, a wannabe king. Our elections and our courts are endangered. Robert Reich in a recent “Coffee Klatch” asks, “Does Trump want to be the next messiah?” https://robertreich.substack.com/p/does-trump-want-to-be-the-next-messiah?r=ele1&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
Our Votes must count.
"The next Messiah"?
A raving madman. A psychopath. A caricatural Beast surrounded by lesser fiends -- some potentially greater.
So dangerous, the world cannot be safe for as long as he remains free. The same goes for his acolytes.
They must be removed from society, hermetically sealed off from communication.
Navalny, while far more of a democrat, is still a Russian nationalist. No need to start passing out haloes.
This is no time for mean, carping comments on a man who is being slowly tortured to death for defending truth and freedom. And still defiant, still answering back...
The flirtation with nationalists took place long ago. It was a tactical error, but not a foolish one, at a time when Navalny and others were seeking a practical foothold from which to oppose Putin's all-powerful gangsters' regime.
An error long since surmounted.
If you can think of any political leader now living who shows comparable qualities, I am all ears.
And let us never confuse nationalism with true love of country. Least of all at a time when the only place for an upright citizen in a corrupt empire is in prison. Or in an unmarked grave.
Unless we too stand up and resist the encroaching forces of tyranny, we too may soon find ourselves having to live in such a land.
He's VASTLY preferable to Putin but it's important to be realistic.
Many have tried, we can’t even hold our own against our own internal forces of evil.
The snag is, that Russia, culturally, has always been a suppressed culture (except for the aristocrats). They have never experienced what we hold to be democracy (and yes,
ours is quite tainted). There are plenty, I gather, who would like to take Putin's position - who'd be far worse - think Kadarov. Navalny wouldn't stand a chance.
The other evil twin with his brother the Turd of Maralardo
Well... I'm concerned that not only has he backed himself into a corner... now he's feeling that he's becoming more and more irrelevant.. and OLD (especially for a Russian man!!)
So that... to me... makes him even more dangerous and the world situation more precarious. I can well imagine him choosing his big 7-0 to launch a nuclear attack... or worse... THAT's why i mention his birthday. I've been watching the calendar since the invasion, knowing that this big birthday for him... happens soon. And now, it's tomorrow. Hoping he doesn't choose to do anything even more insane.. however it certainly wouldn't surprise me. That's all.
I am 71. I don’t consider myself old. I consider myself and others in my age group to be active and rather savvy. Putin is insane and a dicktator which aligns with Trump’s base of Nazis.
this isn't about how we see ourselves. we're not this crazy, Russian macho man who's mostly isolated himself, looking and feeling weak with such a fragile ego... and is now bringing his 'tactical' nukes by train, across Russia... supposedly to the battlefield... for what???? we don't need nuclear war...!!!
Putin and MBS blood brothers, for real. Who has killed the most???
Jeri,
I hate to write this, but, it could be US. If we add up Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq civilian dead?
I hate to know who "has killed the most".
Because, maybe it is you and me. And, maybe we are so blind to it we can barely, or even completely, not see it.
So true, I remember W/Dickie and VietNam atrocities before that. All in our name.
The genocide of indigenous people, Japanese internment and ongoing attacks on African Americans...
Yes. But it’s Republican presidents who started these wars. Particularly two oil men Bushes. Has anyone out there a copy of the Le Monde week-end magazine section on the Bush family (2018?)?
Very true.
Trump/Putin has to go! Quickly. And we need to watch Jared.
Nice name. I like it.