March 24, 2022

If Putin had the audacity

to attend the G20 summit, I'd grab his ass. Just whisk him away to some jail somewhere. I'd risk it. His people would never get him back. They might decide to stand down. Maybe they don't really like him, after all.

I doubt that this is true, but I'd definitely have a plan, just in case.

March 21, 2022

The nomenclature "Nazi"

There has been a lot of discussion regarding the term "Nazi." Denazification is a term that Putin has used to justify his invasion of an innocent nation minding its own business. I myself have used the term "Nazi" to describe some activities ongoing in the world.

But, I think that this term is being used to distract the world from what is really going on, that of Russia invading Ukraine. The Nazis are kind of a standard of evilness that the world easily understands and reacts to in a visceral sort of horrified way. But, it does deflect blame onto a bunch of people who did that awful thing, and most of whom have died.

Yes, we have bad actors today. The term is "neonazi." But, any prejudiced, exclusionary body of people who favor destruction of whole segments of the human family fit this term. The term nazi was associated in politics with a political party, was it not?

I wouldn't mind a new word to distinguish PUTIN from everyone else. "Putinization," "Putzi," anything to focus back on Putin and what he is doing right now.

I am extremely distressed over his apparent kidnapping of Ukrainian citizens. He isn't offering refuge to anyone. He is doing something else evil with them. It is unbelievably shocking to see the parallels between WW2 history and his activities today. He truly deserves to be labeled a monster. I feel bad for his children, having to live with this, but he deserves to be tried in the Hague, the same as the WW2 monsters who were hanged for their deeds. I'm okay with incarcerating him on a life sentence, as long as he exits the prison in a plain pine box.

March 19, 2022

This is something you probably want to know about.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/19/russian-cosmonauts-board-iss-wearing-colours-of-ukraine-flag

They said they had to use up all the yellow fabric they had. Hah! Well, what can you do? Solidarity is important in space.

March 19, 2022

Condolences to Ireland

for the loss of UN Ambassador Jim Kelly. Condolences to his family.

March 18, 2022

Diplomats were expelled

Bulgaria and the Baltics expelled Russian diplomats:

https://www.ft.com/content/232f07d1-5c90-4819-a637-397e14760339

The brief story is about half way down the page.

Apparently, the diplomats were conducting non diplomatic activities; Slovakia also expelled some Russian diplomats recently.

March 17, 2022

Belarus explosions

No updates yet. Here's a Twitter link with a couple of videos:

https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1504194054585831429

I am not a member of Twitter, and the "join" beg screen keeps me from any further move. I did see the two videos. Not much there, but the first one is the best.

March 17, 2022

Let's liberate the Russian people

What's good for Ukraine is good for Russia. Let's start a "specialized military action" and dePutinize all of Russia. It's only fair.

March 17, 2022

Did you see

News was explaining how the tank column had dispersed into neighborhoods and was using civilian neighborhoods for cover. They showed a video of a tank sitting in some yard. There was a civilian walking along the street on the far side, not threatening in any way, just walking along the street. They blew him away. One single guy, doing nothing.

No wonder the Russians are having logistics problems. Not only is that a war crime, but, excuse me for observing, what a waste of the shell.

This has been a bad day. Putin, we are going to get you for this.

March 14, 2022

The UN is cooking something up

I watched the UN briefings this morning. Mexico and France came out and gave speeches, then took questions.

This is what I heard, but according to interruptions in the flow of the broadcast (my rig). So, I am saying that perhaps I didn't get all of the intent here, but this is what I think happened:

That, because, as you know, they can't go to the Security Council and get anything passed because of veto, they are taking a resolution to the General Assembly, which only requires a two thirds vote to pass. And, this resolution is regarding humanitarian concerns of all the (millions of) refugees caused by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The whole situation sucks because there will be a cascade effect on food security which adversely affects struggling countries through poverty and the effects of the Covid pandemic.

This seems to be a step forward in terms of action by the UN. They can't simply stand there and say, Oh, we are going to kick Russian ass now, because we are finally fed up...what they can do is help at the borders where civilians are threatened. But, they did say that they are going to do something TODAY, and that was why they were announcing this resolution vote, because they need all the nations in on it for the two thirds vote. I think that was what was meant; something happening today.

They emphasized that the situation on the ground is very fluid and changing by the hour. I think they feel that things have to happen rapidly. Also, that air strike on the military base, IMO, may be motivational as the war is moving toward the borders now.

As you know, all the fighting has been on the Russian border, the Belarus border, and down at the Azov Sea shore areas. Now, the war is moving toward the NATO border areas, and the countries along those borders, some NATO, some not, are at risk. A lot of bombing has occurred very close to borders in other areas. How close will they bomb border towns on the Ukraine side in order to flatten them, and what will happen to refugees sheltering there along those new borders? I just don't know.

Will NATO accept damage to NATO land, as opposed to actual warfare and occupation, if a bomb is errant and inflicts damage on the wrong side of the border? There was that drone that flew over Romania, Hungary and landed in Croatia, who has been a member of NATO since 2009. Boy, was Croatia pissed that NATO had no reaction to that.

I don't know if we can watch the GA meeting for this, but I would very much like to watch it.

Ukraine,

March 13, 2022

Warships out there

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:130462/zoom:8

Off Germany, in the sea between Denmark and Germany, between the two windfarms on the map, you can see that there are German warships out there. They have ships marked "cable guard." I didn't think you'd be able to see the military ships, but there they are. I counted as many as five before some of them dropped off. I think that's a lot of warships. Maybe it's normal, but it's scary.

Didn't we read that the Russian ship marked for research but really was some kind of cable ship had left port and was headed out? Everybody is worried about a land shoot, but what would happen if Russia gave orders to someone to cut cables, and the warships fired on them? Lots of room for error that gets us into trouble.

You can double click on any ship and a box pops up to give you information on the ship.

Added: There's a British warship sailing in that direction, too.