“Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Winston Churchill Nothing much has changed since Churchill made this cryptic remark roughly 75 years ago. Putin has different goals and a different vision of the world than we do. Another Cactus flower from my friend Bob’s garden.
“Like all other large bodies, where there is a variety of different interests to reconcile, their deliberations are slow.“ George Washington, 1783 During the winter of 1783 Congress was dithering and the Continental Army was starving. A seditious letter was circulated at Newburgh and Washington made a speech, which included the line above, to quell the potential rebellion. He succeeded and that summer Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. Our government has always been slow and it has often been wrong but eventually it does the right… Read More »Congress Moves
The cost of helping Ukraine now is very low when compared with the cost of dealing with Russia if it is allowed to conquer Ukraine. President Zelensky visits Cave Creek, AZ.
As 2023 ends I want to express again my solidarity with Ukraine and with Israel. You are both in fights you didn’t start, against foes who have evil intent. I wish you success in 2024. On to victory. Hamas and Putin have to go. The photo of Zelensky was taken in London last summer.
“Empires have no interest in operating within an international system; they aspire to be the international system.” Henry Kissinger This applies to Russia, China and probably the USA. Another Inukshuk from the Merced River in Yosemite.
I belong to Postcrossing and many of the active members are from Russia and Ukraine. It has been an interesting year for them and for the administrators of the group. I recently received two cards that tell stories that we don’t read in our media. This card is from Moscow it says in part: “And you should know that peaceful people live in Russia, but the government has gone crazy.” This one is from Crimea. It has Russian stamps but the Postcrossing code (the UA… Read More »Russia/Ukraine
The news is full of stories of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the horrible civilian toll. But the statistics tell a different story. In two weeks of fighting the Washington Post reports that 752 civilians have been killed. That doesn’t sound like a murderous killing machine indiscriminately bombing civilians. But we have a narrative that has to demonize the enemy. Yes, Putin has made a terrible mistake attacking Ukraine and it is killing lots of people. But it appears to me from the numbers… Read More »Fake News?
One of the mistakes that George Bush the Younger made after 9/11 was that he didn’t ask the people to sacrifice to destroy the Taliban and Osama Ben Ladin. No war bonds, no draft, tax increase and subsequently no support for finishing the war. Now we are in a war against Russian aggression and Senator Mark Kelly among others has introduced legislation to waive the Federal gasoline tax for six months. This is exactly the wrong action. Kelly and others are misreading the American peoples… Read More »How to Win a War
Four or five days ago Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine without provocation. He is running into more resistance than he expected and the financial and military worlds are in turmoil.Even I am looking at more news and have suggested some solutions. (see below) But I’m stopping to remind myself of the fuss about Quemoy and Matsu in the late 1960’s. (look it up) This doesn’t appear to me to be the rise of a new Nazi threat. It appears a bit more like Putin attempting to… Read More »WWIT about Ukraine
Casus Belli Noun: “An act or situation provoking or justifying war.” Example: “Putin is looking for a plausible casus belli to justify a full scale invasion of Ukraine.”