Russian president Vladimir Putin has asked China for help in his war against Ukraine, according to U.S. officials. Observers see this as a defining moment for China and the direction it wants to take in the twenty-first century. In what might be a sign of how China will react to that request, the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said he had never heard of it. "The high priority now is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even getting out of control,” he 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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. ☮️
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
"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
What can Putin’s death rattle offer China compared to the goodwill of the world?
(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.
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.
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 =💰💰💰