February 8, 2022

It's never too late

February 3, 2022

US alleges Russia planning false flag operation against Ukraine using 'graphic' video

Source: CNN

The US is alleging that Russia has been preparing to "fabricate a pretext for an invasion" of Ukraine, this time using a "graphic" video that would depict a fake attack against Russia.

A senior administration official told CNN that the US has intelligence suggesting that the Russian government, with the help of Russia's intelligence services, has been planning to produce a propaganda video depicting graphic scenes of a "staged false explosion with corpses, actors depicting mourners, and images of destroyed locations and military equipment," the official said. The US believes Russia has already recruited actors to be involved in the fake attack.

The US believes that the military equipment used in the video of the fabricated attack would be made to look like it is Ukrainian or from an allied nation. The official said the video could include images of Bayraktar drones, which NATO ally Turkey has provided to Ukraine, "as a means to implicate NATO in the attack."

The fake attack in the video would be aimed against Russian sovereign territory or against Russian-speaking people, the official said, and would "be released to underscore a threat to Russia's security and to underpin military operations," the official said. "This video, if released, could provide Putin the spark he needs to initiate and justify military operations against Ukraine."'

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/03/politics/us-alleges-russian-false-flag-ukraine/index.html

---

The Washington Post also reported this:

U.S. accuses Russia of planning to film false attack as pretext for Ukraine invasion
By Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, Ashley Parker and John Hudson

Russia is considering filming a fake attack against Russian territory or Russian-speaking people by Ukrainian forces as a pretext to invade its neighbor, the Biden administration said Thursday, warning that the resulting propaganda footage could include “graphic scenes of a staged false explosion with corpses.”

Russia has already recruited the people who would be involved in the fabricated attack video, and Russian intelligence is intimately involved in the effort, a senior Biden administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the administration.

“We believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations, as well as military equipment at the hands of Ukraine or the West, even to the point where some of this equipment would be made to look like it was Western-supplied,” Defense Department press secretary John Kirby said Thursday during a briefing at the Pentagon.

Such a Russian disinformation effort would be “right out of their playbook,” Kirby said, noting that most activity of that nature is approved at the highest levels of the Russian government. Kirby said the Biden administration felt it was important, when possible, “to call it out.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/03/russia-ukraine-staged-attack/
(paywall)

February 2, 2022

do this

February 1, 2022

Tomorrow, February 2, is Imbolc, Candlemas and Groundhog's Day

February 2 is also known as St. Brigid's Day and the Feast of the Purification of Mary.

The groundhog's weather prognostication is based on on an old tradition of forecasting the weather on February 2.

If Candlemas day be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If on Candlemas day it be showre and rain
Winter is gone and will not come again.
(John Ray, 1678)

Men were wonte for to discerne
By candlemas day what wedder shulde holde.
(John Skelton, 1523)

If Maries purifieng daie,
Be cleare and bright with sunnie raie,
The frost and cold shal be much more,
After the feast than was before.
(Reginald Scot, 1584)

Folklife Today
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/category/holidays/candlemas/

February 1, 2022

Imbolc marks the Irish pagan start of spring - something is stirring

Irish Central
By Kathy Scott
Trailblazery
Feb 01, 2022

The Wheel of the Year is a medicine wheel marked and celebrated by most indigenous cultures around the earth in their own ways. In Ireland, the ancient ones measured their cosmos in wheels, spirals, in the movement of the stars, and the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

The ancient Irish were deeply connected to the land, the seasons and the cycles of the natural world and honored these portals with ritual and ceremony. Our ancestors have gifted us with a rich cultural inheritance aligned with the rhythms and patterns of the natural world. This cyclical way of living offers great wisdom that can support and resource our wellbeing today as ‘ancestors-in-training’.

The word Imbolc derives from the Irish, ‘i mbolg’, meaning ‘in the belly’, or "first milk" in the old Irish Neolithic language. It heralds the birthing season, as the soon-to-be-born lambs are growing in their mother’s bellies. Another powerful metaphor to describe this time is ‘winter pregnant with summer’. The seeds of summer are still hidden deep in the earth, in the womb of the goddess and while the worst of the winter darkness is over, Spring has not fully arrived yet.

In the ancient Celtic tradition, there is a celebration of the relationship between the dualistic forces of light and darkness, between what is seen and unseen. These principles move in cycles - day and night, life and death and in every decrease and increase. Nature sleeps during winter and awakens during summer. The Celts saw the interplay between these two states as essential to the continuation of the cycle of life upon the land. The year is divided into two halves, Samos (summer) and Giamos (winter). For our pagan ancestors, the Giamos half of the year has its midpoint at Imbolc, this is the point at which ‘decrease’ turns to ‘increase’.

More at https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/imbolc-irish-pagan-spring

January 31, 2022

Oh, the irony

January 30, 2022

Does this remind anyone of something from DU's past?

The 10-year-old who made their parent a birthday card with detailed drawings of their cats' buttholes.



https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/hilariously-weird-people?origin=web-hf

January 29, 2022

I could use some DU advice on "early cancellation" fees

Last year I called an exterminator to deal with a persistent ant problem. Ants were chewing on wood next to the foundation.

They refused to do just one visit. I had to sign up for a years' worth of treatments. Four visits. They warned that if I canceled before the four visits were completed and paid for, they would impose a whopping "early cancellation' fee on me. Something like over $300.

The fourth and final treatment was in October, so I assumed we were done with them.

A couple of weeks ago (just when I was reeling from the sudden death of my brother and the need to replace the main sewer drain in front of the house) the pest company sent me an email that their next treatment visit would be January 17. I told them I no longer wanted their service.

They sent me an email demanding a $150 "early cancellation" fee. They tried billing my credit card, but the bank sent me a new card recently, so they couldn't get the money. Next they sent a letter by mail demanding payment.

Unfortunately, I can't find any written contract with them, and am at a loss as to what to do.

Why should I have to pay an early cancellation fee -- for what? They didn't provide any service, beyond the 4 treatments I agreed to last year. This seems very unfair.

January 23, 2022

Just why?

January 23, 2022

This is not a