Scattershots – 8mar22 (updated 12mar22)

George Rebane

Probability is the measure of possibility.

H&I fires.  The Russians are using an unusually insidious, deadly, and dastardly artillery tactic to kill fleeing civilians on negotiated evacuation routes.  The tactic is called Harassment and Interdiction fires, and are designed to deny the enemy free use of designated areas over extended periods.  H&I fires are conducted randomly with high explosive shells fired from one or two tubes, and set to denote at 50-150 feet above ground level.  This results in an anti-personnel ‘kill circle’ of at least 200-300 feet radius depending on shell size.  Historically artillery is the biggest killer on the battlefield, spraying shrapnel (extremely jagged and irregularly shaped pieces of steel ranging from bullet to tennis ball sizes) at extreme velocities around the detonation point.  And whereas small arms military bullets travel at around 3,000 ft/sec, shrapnel comes at you at over 20,000 ft/sec.  Targeting H&I fires on escape routes that are used only once by escapees is like shooting fish in a barrel – they never know whether or when its incoming, and they’re always out in the open.  I wonder what a Russian battery commander feels when ordered to schedule H&I fires that he knows will kill/maim only civilians?  Talk about war crimes.

Minds that never will meet.  We have yet one more example of the Great Divide in progress.  In my recent ‘Pentagon teaches socialism’ post’s comment stream we have one of our longtime leftwing readers deny acceptance of this important piece of anti-American news, why? because he considers the cited Newsmax “hardly a credible news source”.  This reader is an established representative of this kind of progressive mentality – if the messenger is unfavorable, summarily reject the message.  He never even bothered to examine the further referenced links which would have taken him to the DoD website where the conference was announced, described, and additional links provided.  Instead, he and his consider CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo, … and other lamestream news media as reliable, no matter that they don’t report news that doesn’t comport with the DNC narrative, and are unrepentant and uncontrite about most items they falsely report and/or spin.  People of the Right have no problem consuming leftwing news and progressive literature – we demand to know it.  However, those of the Left never lift the blinders they had carefully installed during their K-12 years.  Such news consumption practices of the Left and Right are but one of many asymmetries that have made meaningful communication between the sides a rapidly fading episode in our country’s history.

[10mar22 update]  Re the restraining order on my daughter.  Nearly everything that has been admitted as evidence from the plaintiff at the hearing is a lie as corroborated by the available videos and the physics of the possible (e.g. see 1032am comment below).  The judgement was a preordained political act.

[12mar22 update]  Putin’s Rasputin bubble?  Perhaps a little play on words, but a friend and reader sent me a link and asked whether I had ever heard of Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin.  It turns out that Dugin has been the political philosopher and intellectual ideologue of Putin’s inner circle for some time now, dishing out his esoteric views on neo-fascist ‘Eurasianism’. (more here)  Now I have never heard of Dugin or even that Putin has had an ‘inner circle’ of confidants.  From what has been reported it appears that Putin has used the Machiavellian structure of alternating advisor circles whose members are political enemies of adjacent circles, thereby making it hard for a court conspiracy to mature sufficiently to topple the prince.  But according to the referenced article, it appears that Putin’s Rasputin may have successfully implanted his ideas about the historical resurgence of a post-czarist Russia extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  “Gestated in anti-communist right-wing activism during the waning days of the Soviet Union, indebted to a specifically anti-liberal and anti-Enlightenment philosophical embrace of authoritarianism, irrationalism, and hyper-nationalism, Dugin dreams of a reborn Orthodox Tsarist state surpassing the borders and spheres of influence as they existed before 1989, of a Novorossiya (New Russia) built not on socialist principles, but fascist ones.” 

The mentality of a Russian soldier has always been a puzzle to westerners since at least the 1905 Russo-Japanese War.  (Recall that my grandfather was a czarist conscript in that war, transported to and from Pacific rim battles on the trans-Siberian railroad in cattle cars which served as troop trains for Russian soldiers.)  The Russian soldier has been distinguished by his overall and abysmal ignorance of his mission, especially as it fits into the geo-strategic situation du jour, and his lack of what the western soldier knows as patriotism.  The Russian soldier always has found himself poorly led and poorly outfitted – his main goal is just to stay alive and go back home.  To achieve this, he will follow any orders and do anything that lets him survive the day.  Questioning authority is an unknown concept as long as it doesn’t put his life in immediate danger.  However, he has been known to sabotage his own equipment, and even his own body, in order to avoid being thrown into the next maelstrom from which retreat often means summary execution.  In this light one can understand Russia’s wanton shelling of Ukrainian civilians, be they in their apartments or fleeing on an open road.

Comments

[Bill Tozer]

“I wonder what a Russian battery commander feels when ordered to schedule H&I fires that he knows will kill/maim only civilians?”

One of the sacrifices a soldier makes that is not widely discussed is the soldier puts aside his personal beliefs and feelings to be prepared to face and battle ‘the enemy.’
Whether it is obeying orders or putting the mission ahead of self, a bit of one’s own humanity dies there as well. The sacrifice that is not talked about.

Sometimes there is not enough vodka in Russia to blot it out. War is Hell. On to Kiev.

[George Rebane]

BillT 1012am - Actually Mr Tozer, American (and I suspect other western military) officers don't have the liberty of making such a "sacrifice", and are never permitted to put aside what can on a later Monday morning be considered as unlawful orders. We swear to obey only lawful orders no matter the environment in which we received them. And it is the sole responsibility of the officer to determine the legality of the order he receives - he is supposed to reject carrying out unlawful orders. Overall, it's a hard row to hoe, and since Nürnberg it's always on your mind. I have expanded on this previously in these pages.

[scenes]

" never permitted to put aside what can on a later Monday morning be considered as unlawful orders."

Not to be That Guy, but per Wikileaks from leaked US Army field reports, the Iraqi war resulted in 66k civilian deaths between 2004 and 2009. Other estimates are far higher of course.

I expect that if war crimes trials were ever really held, aside from putting the occasional losing leader up for the high jump, there'd be a heckuva lot of court rooms in use.

No doubt there's some wiggle room based on intent, but that hardly matters to the dead.

[Bill Tozer]

Dr. Rebane

I just reread you post above and was really to do a rewrite. What I skipped over was the most important part, the part of most crucial import: Dropping H&Is above lines of fleeing civilians. No reason for that ever. War Crimes? Yes. Hell yes. I cannot image one Western soldier doing that. But, the Eastern POV is not the Western POV.

PS: Have a younger buddy who when doing his service in the Army, was one of eight or nine in his squadron who refused to allow himself to be put under UN command. He swore a oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and thus he was going to defend it, no to being placed under any other command. It made a small stink in the news, but nothing happened to them after the usual threats. All served their time, all honorably discharged.

Those are the types of guys who would help carry infants for the exhausted civilians uprooted from their lives and no where to go but out of the country. Moral outrage is justified, sir. Putin is taking it to another level.

[scenes]

" Dropping H&Is above lines of fleeing civilians."

I can't even see the tactical sense. Fleeing civilians are your friends since they not only interfere with the enemy's transportation but they make the next town down the line panic.

I'd honestly like to see where the story is sourced. After a week and some-odd of the West's version of TASS banging the drums (and Russian papers aren't any better), I've taken to not believing much of anything. All I've run into is some scattered clips and talk of 4-8 dead people. Of course, if you read Pravda, the neo-Nazis in the south are killing civilians.

It does seem to me that the Western public is much less interested in what is best for Ukrainian citizens and much more interested in hammering on Russia on the anvil of Ukraine. You'd be surprised how many papers/op-ed pieces I've run into describing how to best set up a successful insurgency there written some time back. If people were more clever, which they're not, it's almost like part of a plan.

[George Rebane]

Re wartime killing of civilians. There is that wiggly room called 'collateral damage'. But to make that stick within America's UCMJ, you have to show that the killings were either accidental during execution of a legal military mission, or that the overriding mission could not have been accomplished without killing civilians. Spillovers from area bombings of German and Japanese munitions factories counted for much of the latter with places like Dresden, Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki being arguable exceptions of simple terror.

[scenes]

GeorgeR: "legal military mission"

Well, I guess if the Russians do it in Ukraine it's, by definition, illegal. A life simplifier to be sure.

I'm genuinely interested in your source showing an on-purpose shelling of civilians in the manner defined. About all I can find is some news articles (with 4 or 8 deaths) that all seem to derive from a single article I tracked down in some Eastern European press. The WSJ had a variant.

[Bill Tozer]

The operative word here is ‘ONLY’. That’s the biggie I missed in moi first comment. Only in as in, “ordered to schedule H&I fires that he knows will kill/maim only civilians?” Killing only “civilians fleeing civilians on negotiated evacuation routes.”

Heard a great 20 minute interview from a 24 year old journalist in a of civilians fleeing to Poland. They had to walk the last 45-50 minutes without food or water. Once at the border, the Ukrainian Army/Guards were pulling every Ukrainian male 18-60 years old and turning them back, instant conscripts.

Sad, on woman was literally on her knees begging the guards to let her husband come with her. Nope. If I find it, I’ll post it. Even thought the guy did work for CNN, he called in to Levine radio or Glen Beck podcast.

He had to walk with a large group because he gave up his ticket to a man who was taking his family to the Polish border. The man cried and cried in gratitude and hugged the young journalist. Once the man got his family to the border safety, he turned around and went back to join the fight.
The Nazis in the Far East of Ukraine are treating the Jews like it was Warsaw in WW2…per rumors.

[scenes]

In case Paul shows up, this is a followup to the imaginary bio-facilities in Ukraine. You'll have to click the 'un-mute' button.

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1501310103529541636

Dunno what the truth about them is, maybe they're baby milk factories. We here at the Duchy of Grand Fenwick trust no one.

[Bill Tozer]

PS: link to my 3:26 pm

https://www.glennbeck.com/radio/reporter-details-tragic-scene-during-trek-to-escape-ukraine

50 miles, not 50 minutes…no food, water, or, shelter in the freezing cold.

[hobart cross]

In the category of "this is who the Republican Party has become"

A GOP candidate running for Michigan’s House of Representatives, Robert Regan, was discussing how to decertify the 2020 presidential election during a 'facebook live' broadcast for the Republican group Rescue Michigan Coalition. During the broad casts he stated, apperently out of nowhere, "Having three daughters, I tell my daughters, ‘Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.”

Regan won a special primary election by 81 votes. He had previously run for the same office in 2020 but was soundly defeated after his daughter tweeted “If you’re in michigan and 18+ pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad for state rep. tell everyone” and it went viral.

[Bill Tozer]

hobbled cross @ 5:02.

Your comment goes in the Sandbox. Please try to rub your last two brain cells together and focus. To the Sandbox. We must follow the rules, even you.

hobart: Say it ain’t true. A rotten candidate for a state house seat? Oh my. This has never happened before in the annuals of American politics. There sure are some doozies running for local and district offices every election cycle.

Here, hobart, let me hand you a once big broadbrush and you can go paint the town. Paint the whole town red, kind sir. And use that expensive paint that was once used at Ananda that is so organic you can drink it. That was some organic paint no doubt. Didn’t last too long, but it was the thought that counts.

Darn Trump!Jave you seen the price of deck screws lately? $140 bucks a night to heat my house! Darn solar. Useless after 48 hours I tell ya. worthless as teats on a boar. How’s Linda doing? Damn Trump.
—————————————-
“Washington Post and NPR Ignore the Rural Backlash Against Renewables’

https://quillette.com/2022/03/07/washington-post-and-npr-ignore-the-rural-backlash-against-renewables/

[George Rebane]

Shelling civilians. FN runs extensive videos nightly of shelled civilians ducking for cover and being interviewed about their experiences being shelled.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-pummels-ukrainian-civilian-targets-ahead-of-talks-11646645852
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/08/ukraine-russian-assault-kills-fleeing-civilians#
https://dailycaller.com/2022/03/02/2000-ukraine-civilians-russia-invasion-volodymyr-zelenskyy-vladimir-putin/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH34SIk6yIo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS_xJipBRm4

[scenes]

BillT: " The Nazis in the Far East of Ukraine are treating the Jews like it was Warsaw in WW2…per rumors. "

Oh well, I read where the Chechens were raping everybody they could catch.

Maybe we could introduce the two groups.

GeorgeR: "Shelling civilians. "

I'm seeing the 8 civilians again, so it's probably related to the story I tracked down. The whole deal is such a mess (for one thing, the Russians appear to have battalion tactical groups running around hither and yon, less in the way of centralized movements than you'd think) that I can certainly understand bystanders getting involved. It strikes me as a big jump to consider it purposeful shelling of a mass of civilians.

All the news is so pumped up, a mixture of propaganda and the love of people for a good yarn, that you'll have to excuse me for being cynical. The Ukrainians are working the internet like geniuses, the Russians have failed miserably in that area.

Naturally, you get the extra added bonus of civilians and soldiers in close proximity, use of civilian facilities for military purposes, and armed civilians filled with martial spirit, plus the occasional Spetsnaz dressed up in AT&T repairguy outfits (keep a close watch on them).

I'd post up some more links to seemingly dispassionate coverage, but I seem to always end up in spam jail.

[Bill Tozer]

Scattershots polls are more.

Nets Spike Poll Majority Dems Would ABANDON U.S. If Invaded Like Ukraine

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2022/03/08/nets-spike-poll-majority-dems-would-abandon-us-if-invaded
————————
MSNBC's Joy Reid: World paying attention to Ukraine because it's a 'White ... Christian nation'
Joy Reid said, 'Let’s face it, the world is paying attention because this is happening in Europe'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-joy-reid-world-paying-attention-ukraine-white-christian-nation
—————————
It's Afghanistan All Over Again: Americans Abandoned as Biden Administration Ends Diplomatic Presence in Kyiv

https://www.westernjournal.com/afghanistan-americans-abandoned-biden-administration-ends-diplomatic-presence-kyiv/

[fish]

No wonder Punchy likes Joey Fingers......they make excuses the same way.

Biden: Gas Prices Are "Going to Go Up... Can't Do Much Right Now... Russia Is Responsible"

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/biden-gas-prices-are-going-go-cant-do-much-about-it

[Paul Emery]

George

Concerning your "wartime killing of civilians " topic you raised earlier I'm sure you are aware that over 400,000 Iraqi civilians were killed as a result of our invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq. How does that fit into your equation of civilians in wartime? This is the post I'm referring to: Sczttershots 08 March 2022 at 02:47 PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24547256

[George Rebane]

PaulE 901pm - I don't have an "equation of civilians in wartime" - what's your point? And the overwhelming number of Irqis killed after Saddam was toppled was due to tribalism, factionalism, settling of old scores, revenge, etc. And not as you seem to imply that they were killed by American forces.

[Paul Emery]

George
Are you saying that they would not have died if we didn't invade?

[Paul Emery]

George

Did you read the BBC link I provided in my 9:01?

[show me kid]

Emery is the kind of guy that will ask someone if they still kick their dog. The person answers, "NO" and Emery then asks, "Oh, so you stopped?" Idiot....

[Bill Tozer]

Saddam Hussain killed more Muslims than any other person on Earth. After he was driven out of Kuwait, he wiped out the 'boat people' tribes in the south and tribes in the north.

[scenes]

"Saddam Hussein killed more Muslims than any other person on Earth."

Although I'd vote for Genghis Khan, the Iran-Iraq war certainly provided a few bodies for Azra'il.

At this point, I'd say the most efficient Muslim-killer would be destruction of power grids and water/sewer systems, pretty well carried out by the US State Department and military with their own experiments in country invasion and nation building. You can definitely see a dip in life expectancy at that time which otherwise tracks Egypt's pretty well.

This all is just dancing around the issue.

Is the Russian invasion of Ukraine more or less moral than the US invasion of Iraq, particularly the second one? It's bound to be fraught with the way the US public has been preloaded to hate Russians, especially in the last ten years or so, and the fact that Iraqis aren't Christian or white. It would be interesting to calculate a public outrage equivalency ratio, maybe 100:1 in terms of value between the two countries?.

The Founding Fathers would be somewhat horrified by US military adventurism (or simply the dominance of the government class) at this point, but the plot was lost some time ago. The switch-over from simply grabbing land (an honorable trade) to Janissaries for the rest of the world (less so) seemed to happen about the time of the Spanish-American war I think. Maybe it simply reflected a change in the electorate at about that time due to mass immigration. The foreign policy friskiness of Europe found a new place to roost.

[fish]

The grifting, wheedling, and whininess seems to come so easily to Joey Fingers......again I see why he's so appealing as a public figure to Punchy!

Team Biden Begs Venezuela

Meanwhile, team Biden crawled to Venezuela begging for oil instead of producing more in the US.

This is so stupid you could not make it up.

Biden Begs Saudi Arabia Too

Flashback Feb 17, 2021: President Joe Biden early on promised to take a harder line on the oil-rich Islamic monarchy than his predecessor Donald Trump did.

Flash Forward March 8, 2022: Saudi, UAE leaders ignore Biden when he calls to talk gas prices.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan declined Biden’s attempted outreach, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia would not even take the call!

"Never underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up" said a certain someone.....

PS - this post and the story at the link have nothing to do with rape.

Since she is so preoccupied with rape (lord knows what her dating life is like) I think it safe to say that Roberta won't feel the need for rebuttal

That is all.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/unprecedented-fed-action-potentially-starts-a-global-currency-crisis

[Scott O]

Paul 9:41 - "George
Are you saying that they would not have died if we didn't invade?"
Well - they certainly wouldn't have died had they not been born!
The person who brushed off needless American soldiers' deaths now aches for those who died.
Nothing like situational ethics to keep one's mind free of any sort of confusing moral consistency.

[Scott O]

re fish 7:50 - https://www.sott.net/article/465242-Biden-sells-Alaska-back-to-Russia-so-we-can-start-drilling-for-oil-there-again

[Bill Tozer]

Some Basic Truths on Oil

“Oil hit $147.90 on July 14, 2008. That was and remains the record. But oil plunged the next day. By the end of that week, oil prices were down twelve percent. By November, oil was back to $30 a barrel.

What caused the plunge on July 15, 2008?

President George W. Bush announced he was authorizing offshore oil exploration.

That’s it. That’s the only thing that happened. News outlets said it would amount to nothing. The Obama campaign team dismissed it as a stunt. It directly caused the price of oil to start declining.

Why?

Because oil is bought in a futures market, not a present market. The market responded to the information that more American oil would be coming online by sending prices down.”

https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/some-basic-truths-on-oil?s=r

In July of 2008 when Texas Crude was going for $147.90 and Bush said he would open up off shore drilling, the price dropped 12% and within in a month it fell down to 30 bucks a barrel on the futures market. Oil is sold on the futures market, one year in advance.

Have you noticed that the Biden Administration is bending over backwards to avoid saying “off shore drilling”? Those 9,200 leases Biden brags about are all on land. 90% of the oil produced on land were on private lands, only 10% from public lands.

Have you noticed from Louisiana to California on land drilling no longer allows the methane gas to be torched off? You know, those burning flares on top of the well. Now, rigs must capture the methane without burning it off, which vastly increases the cost of drilling. Burning off methane gas is cheap, capturing the methane gas without burning it off is expensive.

Pipelines are the eco-friendly way to go. Rails are not as disaffected to transport oil as numerous examples of derailments and explosions killing civilians near the tracks make the news every year. There is simply are not enough tanker trucks in existence to transport our oil or gas by road.

Slight of hand.

[Bill Tozer]

One Democrat woman’s opinion. Tulsi.

‘Our leaders are selling us a line of crap”

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6300084993001#sp=show-clips

[scenes]

re: BillT@9:44AM

Good statement at 3:30, that makes a lot of sense. As for Ukraine, oh well, it sucks to be them. The US foreign policy folks are snug at home.

This whole thing got me to thinking about a couple of mostly unrelated notions.
. How would the Russians react to an independent alliance between the central and eastern European states? Perhaps there's a security difference (to them) between client countries attached to the United States of Germany and the US. Being a highly junior member of a political or economic union involves a huge loss of independence, plus you get dragged into the affairs of large states.
. It would be interesting to see the effect of a large investment in essentially defensive weaponry. Take a country like, I dunno, Lithuania, and cover the thing with handheld anti-tank and anti-plane missiles, small arms, mines perhaps, rather than going for the main battle tank/F-35 fandango. Combine that with universal conscription and a really excellent citizen-based army. Basically make a place impossibly expensive to conquer while avoiding the appearance of being a combat arm of the US or NATO. In Switzerland, for example, the Air Force is mostly militia.

[scenes]

"Pipelines are the eco-friendly way to go. "

Of course they are, but they don't get you to ecotopia.

. Get rid of pipelines
. So you get rid of oil/gas fields that use pipelines
. So you get rid of oil/gas
. So everyone buys Teslas and all-electric homes
. So that huge demand in electricity results in magic new sources which are TBD

...still workin' on that last one.

[The Estonian Fox]

BT 9:44AM

Way to go Tulsi, 5 minutes on Fox. She shows better understanding of foreign affairs than our 45-years-of-experience president, or our 30-yr-experience Hillary. Tulsi was too polite in using the word 'crap' to describe the Dem's behavior. And she continually kept pressing "how does this benefit Americans?"

T'NT = Tulsi & Trump 2024, for P & VP.

[Bill Tozer]

The Estonian Fox @ 10:31 am. Yep, Tulsi is still a lib through and through, but Fox is the only place she can find air time when she is not trashed to the max as on Lamestream media. Just a fair place to air her views is all she seeks, not being demonized. My Gal is red hot, Their gal is diddly squat. Word salad czar Kamala is unfit at any speed.

Flashback:

Marianne Williamson Caught On Hot Mic: 'Fox News Is Nicer to Me Than the Lefties'

What does it say that Fox News is nicer to me than the lefties are? What does it say that the conservatives are nicer to me?" Williamson said after an interview with Eric Bolling on Sinclair Broadcast Group's America This Week last week. "It's such a bizarre world," she added.

"I didn't think the left was as mean as the right, they are," the activist and author asserted.

https://www.newsweek.com/marianne-williamson-hot-mic-fox-news-nicer-lefties-1458947

Kinda on topic as we prepare to go to war without troops.

“Where did you hear that? Fox News?”, the leftinistas cry out, dismissing the contents out of hand.

[scenes]

"She shows better understanding of foreign affairs than our 45-years-of-experience president, or our 30-yr-experience Hillary. "

Plus the ability to speak extemporaneously. I have to admit that I'm getting bored by teleprompter Presidents.

A thing I'd love to see, but won't. During the campaign, you stick each candidate on a little box and have them speak on foreign policy for a couple of hours. No notes but they can write on a whiteboard if they feel like. Honestly, I don't much care if they sit at a table and do it.

You'd reach the limits of most of these people by minute 5. Richard Nixon could do it. Trump could probably bullshit his way through it with plenty o' non sequiturs. Biden would have a 1000 yard stare and then his mouth would fall agape.

[Bill Tozer]

Again, I can see Dr. Rebane’s justified moral outrage vented towards Russia for attacking the buses carrying only civilians (refugees) that we promised safe passage. Yes, there may appear some conflicts, to be insanely charitable, on when the cease fire safe passage was to began, which would have been 10:am (Moscow time) , not the 8:00am on the ground in Ukraine.

Those buses where heading out of the theater of war, not approaching. Then, the attacks on civilians/fleeing refugees of war. No reason for it. Yellow buses sticking out like a sore thumb.
Even Obama drove me nuts when he would not target the ISIS Caliphate seized oil field tanker trucks carrying oil through the back way to a Turkish port. Obama said those are civilians driving those tanker trucks, just family men trying to make a living and provide for their families. Sound familiar? Channeling Punchy. Once we let Russian jets in there, the truck conveys were destroyed in less than two weeks. Long time no come see.

Tactics is moving troops around on a battlefield. Strategy is moving all troops around for the entire theater of Ukraine. I hope the bombing of civilian conveys with F&Is like the sitting ducks they are was a tactical decision/ error called for by commanders on the ground, not a strategic decision from on high. My hope has not been verified and may be wishful thinking.

Never underestimate the enemy, be it Putin or Lefty commentators on the Union..or here.
Evil is evil and not all view humanity equally.

Punch (if you read this far):
WW2 story. Closing hours of the war. American, British and Russian troops descended on Berlin. Street by street fighting, building to building routing out the German soldiers.

A Russian soldier came across some British and American soldiers hunkered down outside a building. “What’s the holdup, the Russian asked. The Ally soldiers said there are some German soldiers in the building but also women and children in there. That’s the holdup. The Russian soldier looked at the American and British soldiers in disbelief, said “Here, give me that,” grabbed the flame thrower off the shoulder of an American/British soldier, opened that baby up and burned up all inside the building…a few German soldiers, women children, civilians…it made no matter. Stalled no more, moving on.

That is the difference between East and West, Paul. That is Putin. Civilian causalities and humanity means a lot more to “us” than they mean to Evil Men.

[Bill Tozer]

Again, I can see Dr. Rebane’s justified moral outrage vented towards Russia for attacking the buses carrying only civilians (refugees) that we promised safe passage. Yes, there may appear some conflicts, to be insanely charitable, on when the cease fire safe passage was to began, which would have been 10:am (Moscow time) , not the 8:00am on the ground in Ukraine.

Those buses where heading out of the theater of war, not approaching. Then, the attacks on civilians/fleeing refugees of war. No reason for it. Yellow buses sticking out like a sore thumb.
Even Obama drove me nuts when he would not target the ISIS Caliphate seized oil field tanker trucks carrying oil through the back way to a Turkish port. Obama said those are civilians driving those tanker trucks, just family men trying to make a living and provide for their families. Sound familiar? Channeling Punchy. Once we let Russian jets in there, the truck conveys were destroyed in less than two weeks. Long time no come see.

Tactics is moving troops around on a battlefield. Strategy is moving all troops around for the entire theater of Ukraine. I hope the bombing of civilian conveys with F&Is like the sitting ducks they are was a tactical decision/ error called for by commanders on the ground, not a strategic decision from on high. My hope has not been verified and may be wishful thinking.

Never underestimate the enemy, be it Putin or Lefty commentators on the Union..or here.
Evil is evil and not all view humanity equally.

Punch (if you read this far):
WW2 story. Closing hours of the war. American, British and Russian troops descended on Berlin. Street by street fighting, building to building routing out the German soldiers.

A Russian soldier came across some British and American soldiers hunkered down outside a building. “What’s the holdup, the Russian asked. The Ally soldiers said there are some German soldiers in the building but also women and children in there. That’s the holdup. The Russian soldier looked at the American and British soldiers in disbelief, said “Here, give me that,” grabbed the flame thrower off the shoulder of an American/British soldier, opened that baby up and burned up all inside the building…a few German soldiers, women children, civilians…it made no matter. Stalled no more, moving on.

That is the difference between East and West, Paul. That is Putin. Civilian causalities and humanity means a lot more to “us” than they mean to Evil Men.

[scenes]

" Stalled no more, moving on"

It wouldn't entirely surprise me that the more quickly a war is ended, the fewer people die. Even in the aftermath. An impartial God might always back the winning side.

I can't help but avoid a suspicion that what is going on is a purposeful stalemate. Some Moriarty in the DoD really likes the idea of pushing the Russians until they respond, and then feed arms into the inferno. Afghanistan on steroids.

[Bill Tozer]

“Afghanistan on steroids.”

The sick joke going around is we finally learned our lesson about getting involved in a non-winnable 20 year foreign conflict to immediately jumping into another non-winnable foreign conflict.

[scenes]

"Civilian causalities and humanity means a lot more to “us” than they mean to Evil Men. "

I don't know if that's strictly true. Obviously you can overcome that by a certain amount of desensitizing. Practically any soldier up until the last couple of hundred years would wonder what you are on about. (re: desensitizing ..Viktor Suvorov's book on Spetsnaz is good on the subject).

But the other method that seems to work pretty well is The Button. With a Diet Pepsi and Twixt bar in hand, a drone pilot can commit some pretty serious mayhem. Using an axe is a lot more visceral than herding the chicken into the chicken dismembering machine using a joystick.

[Bill Tozer]

re: Minds that will never meet Time to bring back daily quotes.

Upright

“Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.” —Václav Havel (1936-2011)

For the Record

“I used to tweet, as a joke, that the Dem answer to high gas prices was to say ‘all the poors can just go buy a Tesla.’ And then, in the face of nearly $5/gallon gas…they actually said it.” —Rachel Bovard

“‘Just buy an electric car’ is the modern version of ‘let them eat cake.’” —Eric Matheny

“I don’t have a problem with electric vehicles. I do have a problem with the lie that they are a) affordable for everyone [and] b) they are ‘green’ or ‘clean.’” —Katie Pavlich (“They also depend on minerals primarily produced in China. But why not shift our energy dependency from one dictator to the next.” —Kelsey Bolar)

“So Biden is banning Russian oil imports (which he should have done since the beginning if he wanted the sanctions to be serious) but is looking to substitute for those imports oil from…Venezuela, a Russian ally and authoritarian socialist state. Makes sense!” —Ben Shapiro

“Reminder: The Biden administration WANTED this. Their policies were specifically intended to drive up gas prices to force people into electric cars. This is not an accident, and it’s not just a result of the crisis in Ukraine.” —Matt Whitlock

A Trip Down Memory Lane

“We have more oil than anybody. … And you’re paying, what, $2 a gallon for your gasoline? … If Biden got in, you’d be paying $7, $8, $9. Then they’d say, ‘Get rid of your car.’” —Donald Trump, November 2020

Village Idiot

“The average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4 per gallon. OK, that stings, but a clean conscience is worth a buck or two. … I am willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon because I drive a Tesla.” —Stephen Colbert (“Stephen Colbert — who earns $15 million per year from CBS and has a net worth approaching $100 million — says it’s worth it to endure higher gas prices so that you have a ‘clean conscience.’” —Glenn Greenwald | “We don’t have a political divide, we have a class divide. So many in the elite cannot fathom that their fellow Americans aren’t bad people, they just don’t have enough disposable income for vanity morals.” —Batya Ungar-Sargon)

Non Compos Mentis Award

“It’s true that the Russians are earning money from oil and gas, but to compound that problem by accelerating oil and gas in America would go against the climate goals, and climate is like war: If we don’t handle it, people are going to die and they’re going to be suffering. Not immediately, but over time.” —former California Governor Jerry Brown

The BIG Lies

“It’s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. It’s simply not true.” —Joe Biden

“Loosening environmental regulations or pulling back clean energy investment … will not lower energy prices for families. But transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles powered by clean energy with tax credits to help American families winterize their homes and use less energy, that will. That will help.” —Joe Biden

“[Prices are] gonna go up. Can’t do much right now. Russia’s responsible.” —Joe Biden

Lack of Self-Awareness Award

“How did we get to the place where, you know, Putin decides he’s gonna just invade Russia? Nothing like this has happened since World War II.” —Joe Biden

Dezinformatsiya

“Swing voters — Trump-Biden voters — they seem to buy the idea that Putin wouldn’t have done this if Trump were president. … I don’t buy that. I don’t think that that matches logic, but voters do. That’s a perception issue.” —MSNBC’s Chuck Todd

Race Bait

“The coverage of Ukraine has revealed a pretty radical disparity in how human Ukrainians look and feel to western media compared to their browner and blacker counterparts, with some reporters using very telling comparisons in their analyses of the war. … If this was happening anywhere else would we see the same outpouring of support and compassion? Well, we don’t need to ask ourselves if the international response will be the same if Russia unleashed their horror on a country that wasn’t white and largely Christian.” —MSNBC’s Joy Reid

Theater of the Absurd

“I don’t think anybody is advocating for Iran to continue acquiring a nuclear weapon, perhaps except for the former president who pulled us out of the deal.” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

And Last…

“For reasons that are still unclear, the Biden administration has long sought to revive the failed Obama-era 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Reports suggest an agreement is imminent, with the lead Russian negotiator in the talks saying Russia and China teamed up and ‘Iran got much more than it could expect. Much more.’ … By reviving the failed Iran deal, the Biden administration will fill the coffers of a murderous, terrorist regime, without putting an end to Iran’s nuclear weaponization. And some of that windfall may find its way to Russia, fueling Putin’s war machine. It will go down in history as one of the president’s most disastrous foreign policy decisions.” —Senator Marco Rubio

[Bill Tozer]

In case Paul shows up, this is a followup to the imaginary bio-facilities in Ukraine. You'll have to click the 'un-mute' button.

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1501310103529541636

Dunno what the truth about them is, maybe they're baby milk factories. We here at the Duchy of Grand Fenwick trust no one.
Posted by: scenes | 08 March 2022 at 03:33 PM
————————————
Too early by a few hours until Paul lets his hair down, but let’s lay the cards out on the table anyway. Whatz you holding? Let’s see what your got, Paul Emery.

EXCLUSIVE: Deleted Web Pages Show Obama Led an Effort To Build a Ukraine-Based BioLab Handling ‘Especially Dangerous Pathogens’.
Recovered by The National Pulse, the article raises serious questions about U.S. government activity in Ukraine, stretching back almost two decades.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/03/08/obama-led-ukraine-biolab-efforts/
———————-
To parrot Scenes March 8 @ 3:33 pm
BREAKING: Biden official says US working with Ukraine to prevent bio research facilities from falling into Russian hands
"Ukraine has biological research facilities, which in fact we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of."

[Don Bessee]

Global warming nuts are a mental health crisis -

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-democrats-blasted-posing-sign-comparing-9-11-climate-change

;-)

[scenes]

If Victoria Nuland didn't exist, I think you'd have to invent her.

https://spaceworms.substack.com/p/the-us-is-culpable-in-todays-ukraine?s=r

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/victoria-nuland-ukraine-has-biological?s=w

Naturally, her husband is Robert Kagan.

[George Rebane]

Historical note: In the closing hours of WW2, the only allied soldiers in Berlin were Red Army soldiers. Americans and Brits were dutifully waiting things out on the west side of the Elbe. We were finally let into Berlin by the Soviets after hostilities ceased. That was Eisenhower's order to the troops advancing from the west.

[Bill Tozer]

@ 3:49 pm.

Too good to fact check. Well, it could have been true. I wanted it to be true! Heard that from a friggin Limey that is now a US citizen. And he was so well educated. White dude. Should have known. :).

[scenes]

BillT: "A Russian soldier came across some British and American soldiers hunkered down outside a building."

I heard those same three guys applied to be CIA agents.

They all did well on their tests. The final exam is that they were given a pistol and led inside a room with their wife tied to a chair and they have to kill her. The American went in and came out right away.

"I just couldn't do it" and he gave up the gun.
The English went in for a while and then came out
“I couldn’t do it.”

So the Russian went in and they heard several shots. Then a whole bunch of crashing and banging and then he came out covered with sweat.

“You bastards gave me a prop gun. I had to finish her with the chair!"

and that's no shit.

[scenes]

🇺🇦⚡️Kharkiv: NLAWs delivered to the city in civilian cars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYqjzuSUf0

[scenes]

moi@7:14PM

BillT: "“I wonder what a Russian battery commander feels when ordered to schedule H&I fires that he knows will kill/maim only civilians?”"

[Steven Frisch]

"WW2 story. Closing hours of the war. American, British and Russian troops descended on Berlin. Street by street fighting, building to building routing out the German soldiers.

A Russian soldier came across some British and American soldiers hunkered down outside a building."

I realize that this may have been meant as merely a "story" to illustrate a point but 1) there were no American and British soldiers in the final attack on Berlin, and 2) I can think of almost no engagement at the end of the war in Germany where Russian, British and American forces would have been fighting side by side at that level.

Which just goes to show you how quickly bullshit becomes anecdotal knowledge.

[Bill Tozer]

Weapons for Nazis?

https://fb.watch/bFOJ6BdPsQ/

[scenes]

"Which just goes to show you how quickly bullshit becomes anecdotal knowledge. "

and how much people love a good story.

pro tip: next time you're at a bar and someone tells a whopper, don't be an ass and simply enjoy the tale. Nobody likes the self-righteous pedantic guy.
---------

In other news, the US Congress has found another way for you to be part of their foreign policy.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON TRANSACTIONS WITH
FOREIGN PERSONS THAT PURCHASE
OR TRANSACT IN RUSSIAN GOLD.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any transaction by a
United States person with a foreign person
described in subsection (b) is prohibited.
(b) FOREIGN PERSON DESCRIBED.—A foreign
person is described in this subsection if the
foreign person—
(1) purchases, transacts in, or transports
between countries gold received from the
Government of the Russian Federation, in-
cluding from reserves of the Central Bank of
the Russian Federation held outside the Rus-
sian Federation; or
(2) engages in a transaction—
(A) involving gold; and
(B) that has a physical or electronic nexus
to the Russian Federation.

I can imagine the unintended consequences from that one.

[Steven Frisch]

Tozer: Useful Idiot.

The government of Ukraine is not riddled with Nazis as Putin is claiming, there have been no mass killings of Russians by Nazi's as Putin has claimed, and the government of Ukraine has passed several recent laws trying to suppress the rise of far right neonazi groups inside Ukraine who have been engaged in vandalism and public marches.

Like many European countries there are some neonazi political organizations, just look at Poland, Hungary, and Romania, but it is not the policy of the government and the government.

That you would fall for this Russian propaganda is the very definition of Useful Idiot.

[fish]

Posted by: scenes | 10 March 2022 at 07:09 AM

Nobody likes the self-righteous pedantic guy.

Self-righteous pedantic guy does! He considers himself vital to the discussion....any discussion.

Now for the correct version of that story.....

"WW2 story. Closing hours of the war. A Rabbi, an Eskimo and Russian troops descend on Berlin. ....

[Steven Frisch]

I am actually grateful that George also fact checked that post about the Russian, American and British soldiers...but I'm not being pedantic, I think its rather obvious that Tozer is in the riddled with propaganda and bullshit camp...and you guys demonstrate every day that you don't know shit about history.

[Gregory]

Oliver Stone and Walt Disney are two of the biggest historical fabulists ever.

Stevie likes his own fables.

[scenes]

"that Tozer is in the riddled with propaganda and bullshit camp"

Why, just the other day he was telling me about how Donald Trump loved to have Russian hookers pee on him. It was quite a story, I can tell you. Just imagine the mess!
-----

Note to self: We need to impose a bunch of sanctions on China.

"BEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) - Moves by U.S.-led NATO have pushed tension between Russia and Ukraine to a "breaking point", Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday."

https://www.reuters.com/world/china-blames-nato-pushing-russia-ukraine-tension-breaking-point-2022-03-09/

[Gregory]

Poor Natalie Adona! Just heard her voice on NPR Morning Edition! She's gone national.

[Bill Tozer]

Steven Frisch

Well, I may be a useful idiot. The link I posted did not imply that Ukraine’s policy was pro-Nazi. It was a look at the pro-Nazi faction of the Azov Regiment. When all men in Ukraine are made conscripts, then you take what you have to fight the enemy, in this case that would be the Russian invaders.

Profile: Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov regiment?
The far-right neo-Nazi group has expanded to become part of Ukraine’s armed forces, a street militia and a political party.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/1/who-are-the-azov-regiment
—-
Ukraine's Nazi problem is real, even if Putin's 'denazification' claim isn't
Not acknowledging this threat means that little is being done to guard against it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ukraine-has-nazi-problem-vladimir-putin-s-denazification-claim-war-ncna1290946
—————-
A regiment in Ukraine's military was founded by white supremacists. Now it's battling Russia on the front lines.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/03/05/russia-invasion-ukraine-attention-extremist-regiment-nazi/9368016002/?gnt-cfr=1
————————
Fighting Russia in Ukraine sadly appeals to racist, far-right extremists

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/fighting-russia-ukraine-sadly-appeals-far-right-extremists-n1290901
———————
7 years ago
Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat
The battalion's far-right volunteers' desire to 'bring the fight to Kiev' is a danger to post-conflict stability
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis
————————-
NPR
The Russian-Ukraine conflict could strengthen neo-fascist groups in both countries
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/05/1084729572/the-russian-ukraine-conflict-could-strengthen-neo-fascist-groups-in-both-countri
———————————-
Steven. As far as the Berlin story, Dr. Rebane called me out on that instantly, not you. A story that was told at a non-profit meeting I attended many moons ago. It was actually an off topic discussion on the evils man does to man. The purpose of the non-profit was to alleviate human suffering. I was wrong.

I still don’t see how that either my proven wrong tale of Berlin or the link at 7:06 am is falling for Russian propaganda. Ukraine is a vast country, the size of Texas. In times of National Emergency, all-comers are welcome.

[scenes]

" "WW2 story. Closing hours of the war. A Rabbi, an Eskimo and Russian troops descend on Berlin. ...."

Hey, I've heard that one.

The punchline is 'Remember the Alamo!'.

[Gregory]

"Remember the Maine" remains appropriate.

[scenes]

"Poor Natalie Adona! Just heard her voice on NPR Morning Edition! She's gone national."

I checked it out, it's the first time I've listened to NPR for years and years.

lol. Man, does that show have a POV. It's like listening to Alex Jones with little girl voices and the occasional uptalk.

Of course, the likelihood of Natalie Adona leaving that job is essentially zero. There's too many good deeds for The People to be done.

moi@7:14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYqjzuSUf0

Posted because I can see the problem of attacking civilians. No doubt the Russians have fewer problems with that than, say, the Swedish Army or Grand Admiral Levine, but I can appreciate the issue.

A lot of what is going on here is a worldwide information war, the Russians failing miserably in the West (of course, mass censorship helps). There's bound to be a certain amount of Palestinianesque tactics by the Ukrainians here. Use high schools as mustering areas, use cars for military transport, arm people wearing track suits, stick a tank in the hospital parking lot, and make sure there's plenty of cameras around in case of incoming. Pump up the outrage.

This guy did have some good bits of video, just for the flavor of the thing.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiC8Pn16fItHoGsPM9Af93Q/videos

I should accumulate a bunch of those sources. There's bound to be a certain amount of editorializing no matter where things come from, but the fifteenth hand propaganda courtesy of MSM is something I can't stomach.

[Bill Tozer]

There was an old skit on tv in my younger days where the two hosts were stopping each other (might have been the Smothers Brothers or Laugh In)…stopping each other from doing jokes about a Rabbi, a Minister, and a whatever walk into the bar. They keep stopping each other because they did not want to offend anyone. After careful consideration, they came up with a Pygmy Eskimo to be the blunt of the joke. Who could possibly be offended by a Pygmy Eskimo joke? Heck, there are no Pygmy Eskimos. So, they proceeded.

Then walks in Sammy Davis Jr. wearing a thick fur parka, all upset about being offended by the Pygmy Eskimo joke. That was the punch line.

Off topic, yes! The Ukrainian-Russo conflict has many moving parts and has exposed the need/dependence/ preciousness for oil and gas on a geo-political scale. Saudis and UAE hanging up on Biden….talks with the brutal dictator of Venezuela, NATO says yes, NATO says no, Poland, Germany unable/unwilling to defend itself until now…..a whole bunch of moving parts going on.

Me thinks, unless a agreement can be reached between Kiev and Moscow, there will be a lot of imagines of building reduced to rubble that resemble Berlin at the closing of WW2.

I once shacked up with (lived in sin) with a German national biological woman. My age. Her aunt was bombed out of her residence not once, not twice, but three times. Her father was captured by the Americans and sent to a POW camp in Oklahoma or somewhere stateside. While there, the prisoner had a accident with a farming implement or something. The reason her aunt knew that was because the Red Cross notified the family in Germany in the War that he was injured but ok and recovered.

That is the difference between how the Germans (and Japanese) treated the American POWs and how the Americans treated the German POWs.

I am such a worm.

[Steven Frisch]

"I still don’t see how that either my proven wrong tale of Berlin or the link at 7:06 am is falling for Russian propaganda."

I was just using that as an example of how woefully ignorant of history you are Bill, not your useful idiot status.

[Bill Tozer]

Guilty as charged, Steven.

Did George Washington cut down the cherry tree?

[Bill Tozer]

SCENES @ March 8, 6:23 pm

BillT: " The Nazis in the Far East of Ukraine are treating the Jews like it was Warsaw in WW2…per rumors. "

Oh well, I read where the Chechens were raping everybody they could catch.

Maybe we could introduce the two groups
——————-
Scenes, I have a feeling the two will meet soon enough if they haven’t met already. Muslims vs Nazis. :)

[fish]

Posted by: Bill Tozer | 10 March 2022 at 09:02 AM

Remember Bill, "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past," there was a nice handbook the progressives published about it a while back

I suppose from there stems Steve's smug regarding history.

[scenes]

"Did George Washington cut down the cherry tree? "

Not if it was over 6" in diameter, at least around these parts.

re: Azov Battalion (and all of it's variants in Ukraine).

I'm uncomfortable with reusing the term 'Nazi' to mean any old thing people want. It's a specific belief system at a specific time. Heck, even 'Right' is an odd duck anymore. It isn't like a Trump voter, whatever their shared notions of reality are, is much like the friskier version of Ukrainian.

It's like using 'Communist' for any sort of US group. As implemented in China or the USSR, it's not like a Soviet would give an individual who sets his sights on buggering trussed-up men in dog suits the keys to their nuclear waste bureaucracy.

It seems to me that the Azovs (is that a word?) are just another political tool here in the US. You yell about them and make an attempt to tie them to your political opponents when needed. You arm them when some neolibcon in a meeting room in DC decides that a proxy war is needed. In both cases, the media follows the party line.

[fish]

I think its rather obvious that Tozer is in the riddled with propaganda and bullshit camp...

WOW.....with these cognitive deficiencies....you'd think that Bill would be an ardent democrat.

[scenes]

fish: "I suppose from there stems Steve's smug regarding history. "

Oh well, nobody really knows that much. It's all a set of partially-true stories and there's so damned much that only a domain expert really groks a piece of the puzzle. I just think about all the work that David Glantz must have put in just to wiggle out his overviews on the WWII Soviet Union (and only the left side of the country at that).

If Mr Frisch is worried whether someone knows more than *him*, well I can't help that. It's a childish argument.

WWII is a funny beast. It's yuge, and a bookshelf of tomes for the layman doesn't do it justice. As usual, they're usually concerned with the personalities involved as that's what people want to read. It's always all about Hitler (or a few other folks). I kind of lost interest a long time ago in that period although I appreciate a snappy uniform or a cool jet as much as anybody.

As to current events, there was a paragraph at Understanding War dot com that I really liked.

"Recent Russian state media narratives have built upon a long-running Kremlin information operation to falsely claim that Ukraine, the United States, and NATO are plotting a chemical or radiological attack on Russia or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. Russia may conduct or fabricate such an attack and blame Ukraine and NATO to justify additional aggression against Ukraine. "

My strong bet is that you could reverse the actors and see exactly the same paragraph at TASS. I'm incapable of surprise at this point.

[scenes]

BillT: " Scenes, I have a feeling the two will meet soon enough if they haven’t met already. Muslims vs Nazis. :) "

Given that there were Nazi Muslims (13th SS Mountain? something like that. It sticks in my head due to the interesting pictures.) you just never know.

I'd have to look, don't hold me to it, but I think that the Azovs (Azovis?) were parked down near Odessa maybe? My hindbrain tells me that there was a threatened move by Russian Naval Infantry in the area. As usual, real news is pretty thinly spread.

[Gregory]

"Misinformation has driven threats of violence on election professionals

"I get scared that someone I know is going to be seriously hurt one day," said Natalie Adona, an election official in Nevada County, Calif. "I know that's a thought that's shared with others who I've talked to."

Adona says she recently got a restraining order against someone who slammed a door into one of her staff members."

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/10/1085425464/1-in-5-local-election-officials-say-theyre-likely-to-quit-before-2024

Adona, aka "Feministic" on TheUnion comment pages... how does one "slam" a door...open... with your shoulder, carrying stuff in your hands?

[Bill Tozer]

I voted for Jimmy Carter. Man, you think I am messed up now, you should have seem be back in the day. A prolonged childhood, if you will.
The challenge is not to find and get in touch with my Inner Child, but rather the quest to find my Inner Adult.

Enough talking about me, ok? Good. Now, let’s talk about me. With Punchy not around as often lately, there is always moi to talk about.

My first comment in this thread was about in times of armed conflict, a soldier has to put aside his normal beliefs about humanity and has to steel himself to go kill another man. Easier when you are arriving and realize instantly that those are real bullets firing your way trying to kill you first.

Not war crimes stuff. I just wanted to recognize that when we send our troops into battle (or any troops for that matter), one of the great sacrifices the warriors made was a part of their humanity. Left on the battlefield. A sacrifice indeed.

We all lost something in that damned war.— line from the movie The Outlaw Josie Wells.

I fear the worse scenarios with American blood spilled in Ukraine. A trajectory. A possibility. Yet, I don’t want to be a Chamberlain and demand an off ramp, but I want an off-ramp for the West!

I am having doubts about our leadership.

[Gregory]

toes, I have no doubts about Joe Biden, Kamalala Harris or Nancy Pelosi.

[scenes]

"I get scared that someone I know is going to be seriously hurt one day," said Natalie Adona, an election official in Nevada County, Calif. "I know that's a thought that's shared with others who I've talked to."

C'est la guerre.

That's how you fight an information war. Get on the radio, get in the newspaper, hit the social media.

Make yourself look like the wronged party, your enemy is obviously a 'Nazi'. You can ride to power, or at least a little more status, on a road of bones.

The whole deal could have been allowed to disappear as a trivial exercise in imperfect behavior, but that simply isn't allowed anymore.

Crazytown Uber Alles.

[scenes]

BillT: "I am having doubts about our leadership. "

Land's sakes, I don't.

But it's not like you ever have talented enough people in those gigs, especially the real leaders, the folks that tell the talking heads what to say and do.

We can only hope that they're not fighting in the war room.

I did have to laugh my ass off at the idea of Kamala Harris playing the part of James Baker. Affirmative action is going to kill us all.

[fish]

Seen elsewhere.......

"I am beginning to understand how Joe Biden ended up with a son like Hunter. Whenever the stuff really starts hitting the fan, Biden just keeps ducking, ignoring, and dodging it. Biden does not have the mentality to confront a crisis and work to overcome it. He just lets the trainwreck happen. He’s too gutless to fight it.

The fact that world leaders are beginning to ignore Biden during the Ukraine crisis is the first time in decades that something this disgraceful has happened to a United States president. Other world leaders think Biden is negligible.

When Biden refused to take Trudeau’s phone call during the Afghanistan debacle, it was a warning sign about how Biden would handle any future crisis.

This too is exacerbated by being a coward and hiding behind men with guns for most of your life. It starts to make a guy feel like he can pop off in town meetings without consequence.....after all.....what are you fucking plebes going to do about it?

[Bill Tozer]

@ 12:26 PM

“I did have to laugh my ass off at the idea of Kamala Harris playing the part of James Baker.”

Seen earlier this morning on Someone’s Twitter machine, without butchering it too much:

If the Polish government wants to know what the US really thinks of them, the US is sending Kamala Harris.
————————-
One thing I can say for Steven Frinch is he always, always, always will answer a question posed to him directly. Can’t say that about any other person on his side of the aisle. Yep, sometimes he is a sour kraut and he is convinced we (or most all here) are racists. That’s his opinion. He is more attuned to those dog whistles than the average bear. Average bear meaning what one expects to see and hear on The Nation publication, Joy Reid on CNN, Joy Behr on ABC’s The View, and certain NPR journalists. Oh ya, the Root.

It is just me or have others noticed that Joy Reid and Joy Behr were horribly misnamed by their respective parents?

An olive branch to Steven. You ain’t heavy, you my brother.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4GLAKEjU4w

[scenes]

"he is convinced we (or most all here) are racists. "

I was thinking about that. I'll be happy to own up to it if 'racist' were averagely well-defined.

Generally, I just pass it off as something like:

. I'm mad at these people.
. What's the worst thing I can think of to call them.

The word might as well be invented purely for insult effect.

Personally, I think he's brilliant. That 'business' he's got there is pure genius. No faulting that.

re: the story of the American and the Englishman and the Russian (and the Rabbi and the Texan maybe).

Since I know about the Elbe, I view a thing like that as a parable and view it as such (as opposed to the guy who listens in on conversations at the bar and wants to argue). Obviously, it makes a point of an Eastern vs. Western view of conflict. The interesting thing (to me) is that it also makes a point about the West's view of the East. It's always good to have a meta-point to a story.

[fish]

"he is convinced we (or most all here) are racists. "

As stated previously, Steve granted a reluctant acknowledgement 5, 6, maybe 7 years ago that we weren't racists....a blanket amnesty if you will! This even extended to Todd who clearly wasn't (but was remarkably clumsy with the English language) and frequently got himself into trouble because he would let fly with all sorts of things that weren't politically palatable in todays delicate world.

No, for the most part it (the term) is a political cudgel. Once you can make it stick to someone everything else that follows is oh so much easier.

He didn't extend the same grace to our host.....Steve won't be happy until George is vanquished (quits of his own accord, is driven off the Union's editorial board, etc.) and no longer providing a place for Wrongthink online.

The hammer will be retained until other objectives are met.

[Don Bessee]

You know its a bad day for creepy grampa joe when the lap dogs bite -

CNBC's Rick Santelli rips Biden administration's evolving excuses for inflation: 'Now we're at Putin'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnbcs-rick-santelli-rips-biden-administrations-evolving-excuses-for-inflation-now-were-at-putin

;-)

[Don Bessee]

The kakkler in chief is consistent which it the only positive anyone can think of -

Former press secretary to Ukrainian president says it would be 'tragedy' if Kamala Harris becomes president
Iuliia Mendel's criticism came as Harris ripped over awkward press conference with Polish president

https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-press-secretary-ukrainian-president-tragedy-kamala-harris-president

;-)

[scenes]

"March 10 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (FB.O) will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters on Thursday, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy."

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-facebook-instagram-temporarily-allow-calls-violence-against-russians-2022-03-10/

[Bill Tozer]

First @ 1:54 pm

‘The Term’ is a political cudgel? Nah, it’s more than that. It (the term) works fine as a personal cudgel as well.

‘Prince William Is A Racist’ Trends On Twitter After Royal Calls War In Europe ‘Alien’

https://www.dailywire.com/news/prince-william-is-a-racist-trends-on-twitter-after-royal-calls-war-in-europe-alien

Toss the Prince in the alligator filled moat.

[Bill Tozer]

Fish, not, First. Damn, off my game lately. Still First in the hearths and minds of his countrymen. Very diplomatic CYA, eh? Still, a weak dodge and no dice. I was wrong, am wrong. The worm crawls away one inch at a time…..

Scenes @ 1:43 pm
The fable, the parable, the Brothers Grime, and the Chinese bread maker. White, not cooked enough. Brown, overdone. Yellow, just right. A Eastern POV. The stone cutter.

[George Rebane]

On racism and racist -
https://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2010/07/who-is-a-racist.html
https://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2019/07/racism-and-racists-revisited.html

[Bill Tozer]

Kamala Harris Had Another Laughing Incident in Poland

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2022/03/10/kamala-harris-had-another-laughing-incident-in-poland-n2604375

[Don Bessee]

Creepy grampa joes own team is savaging his inflation lies -

Rattner called out Biden's remarks in a tweet Thursday, noting that the administration's sanctions on Russia – which were imposed last month – would account for only a small percentage of the devastating inflation figure that reflects the past twelve months.

"Well, no. These are [Feb. numbers] and only include small Russia effect," Rattner wrote. "This is Biden’s inflation and he needs to own it."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-steven-rattner-inflation-biden-russia

Treasury Sec. Yellen contradicts Psaki: Likely to see another year of 'very uncomfortable' inflation
Nearly every category of goods and services got pricier last month

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/treasury-secretary-yellen-likely-another-year-inflation

;-)

[scenes]

DuckDuckGo 'down-ranks' Russian disinformation. The search engine's users are not happy.

https://mashable.com/article/duckduckgo-search-engine-russian-disinformation

[Scott O]

scenes 6:35 - That's interesting. I use DDG and noticed in the last several days that typing 'Drudge' no longer brings up the Drudge web site. Instead it offers all sorts of anti-drudge or sorta-drudge sites.
I never realized there were so many.
The yo-yo in the video is hilarious. He's warning us that the Babylon Bee isn't a 'credible news site'.
What!!?? Next he'll say Mad Magazine is a spoof.
No mention of the NYTs being the biggest bunch of liars on the planet.
'Trust no one' means just that.
This is all starting to have the vibe of The Great War in Europe.
Huns bayonetting babies!! With blood dripping out of their mouths!
The Lusitania was loaded with munitions and the German govt took out ads warning passengers the ship was eligible for sinking under current agreements with the American and British govts. The American and British govts lied and claimed the Germans were lying. Gee - would the American govt lie to its citizens? Well the admin at the time was a bunch of openly racists Democrats, so sure - they would lie.
And the Germans being as the British would say "bloody minded" sunk the damn vessel and off to the races we go! We know the current admin to be a bunch of racist liars, so hold on to your seats, your hats, your posteriors and so forth...

[Scott O]

George 3:10 - When was the last time that a lefty showed up here to call you or some (or all) of us 'racist' and offered even a hint of proof?
It has become just a lame crutch for leftys to use when they have no intellectual argument.
It's name calling, pure and simple.
Like a 3 year old telling me "yer stoopid"
You smile and pat them on the head and give them a lolly.
"off ya go"

[scenes]

The censorship will continue until morale improves.

From the 'nothing is true' department.

The Mariupol Hospital.

https://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/150658-mariupol_maternity_hospital/

vs.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/mariupol-childrens-hospital-destroyed-targeted-attack-ukrainian-officials/story?id=83350914

worth noting, from several days ago.

"Ukrainian radicals show their true face more distinctly by the day. Locals reports that Ukraine’s Armed Forces kicked out personnel of natal hospital #1 of the city of Mariupol and set up a firing site within the facility. Besides, they fully destroyed one of the city’s kindergartens."
https://russiaun.ru/en/news/070322n

Twitter is worth a look:
https://twitter.com/gbazov/status/1500580169823789059
https://twitter.com/mossomo/status/1502112114391068672
https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1501579520633102349

Naturally:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/10/twitter-removes-russian-embassy-tweet-on-mariupol-bombing

Your guess is as good as mine.

[scenes]

GeorgeR: "The judgement was a preordained political act."

Dunno why you would expect otherwise.
....

Now, here is a funny one. I went down a serious rabbit hole of documents that the 4chan people amassed concerning the biolabs in Ukraine story. I was too lazy to write up anything and it's all too nebulous for any kind of opinion.

Well, Robert Malone (the vaccine-doubter virologist dude) pasted together a pretty good overview of the whole deal. It's pretty long, and I wouldn't bother unless you're willing to cruise through the whole thing.

https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/ukraine-biolab-watchtower?s=r

[Scott O]

scenes 8:59 - "I wouldn't bother unless you're willing to cruise through the whole thing."
Yeah - right now, I'm not. Maybe later.
But does all this warrant Putin's stupid move in the Ukraine?
What if China had a lab that was playing with dangerous viruses?
What if we had labs doing the same?
I'm beginning to think Putin is the mental equivalent of Biden. Both clever in maneuvering in politics and the halls of power but ultimately failing in the real world once they step outside of the cushions of that power. The difference being Putin was just a bit more uppity. Biden playing it safe by being just a guy in the basement obeying orders.
Putin is like that guy who wants to be addressed as 'Paul' on this blog. Despite being adept at some things he turns out to be completely incapable of admitting he was wrong, he just blunders on in complete disregard to how badly he has F'd up.
The large difference being in how powerful Putin is compared to poor Paul who can't do any worse than playing a guitar with some broken strings.

[scenes]

Scotto: " But does all this warrant Putin's stupid move in the Ukraine?"

My take is that I can justify everyone's actions in the play.

The Russians have a justification, certainly more than the US in Iraq.
The Ukrainians should defend themselves. Their stated goals of joining NATO, retaking Crimea, hinting at a nuclear weapons program all make sense given their own realized fears.
The US ruling class have a justification for building up Ukraine as a weapon against Russia over the last decade.

It's all pretty much non-negotiable so far, so you get a war. I can't help that.

The story I'm referring to is the merging of commercial and government interests in the West on a war footing. There appears to be a need by the folks in charge to defeat the Russians in the field and cause a regime change rather than negotiating. A dangerous business. We are all awash in the first 21st C. information war, convincing the herd to move a certain way.

I'm sick of the manipulation. Extend the trends outwards and you end up with a system that makes the Stasi look ineffective. A war is a temporary interruption of life by comparison.

[fish]

I think this was all you needed...

The story I'm referring to is the merging of commercial and government interests in the West on a war footing. There appears to be a need by the folks in charge to defeat the Russians in the field and cause a regime change rather than negotiating. A dangerous business. We are all awash in the first 21st C. information war, convincing the herd to move a certain way.

War and removal of Putin....a wedge between Russia and the PRC with a new more compliant leader in Moscow....massive inflation to adjust the debt picture in a way favorable to DC.

So many things beneficial to the regime.

[scenes]

"massive inflation to adjust the debt picture in a way favorable to DC."

I have to admit that's a thing I haven't thought of, and is obvious in retrospect.

You sell .gov debt into an incredibly cheap rate market for years, and then shock the system upwards during payback time, all on the backs of the bond holders. At least those bond holders who aren't public sector pension funds.

It works great, once. Now, if you could cease borrowing and merely pay back the old debt with Weimar money. It would be interesting to see if the mix of bond durations have changed in the last years.

You do have to wonder what the real plans are for the new digital money being floated. How convertible is it really? What sorts of games can you play beyond universal surveillance of cash flow? Of course, there's the best laid plans and there's the gang aft a-gley part as you run into the real world.

[scenes]

Not a bad article as such things go.

"That is perhaps the end of Western liberal global capitalism as we knew it: and the birth of a zero-sum geopolitical bareknuckle “markets go where we want them to” global state capitalism."

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rabobank-perhaps-end-western-liberal-global-capitalism-we-knew-it

Although you do have to wonder if breaking the world into smaller units of self-sufficiency isn't such a bad idea. It's a more typical state of affairs, and remembering how to make your own shoes or small appliances (or cars) might have desirable side effects.

[scenes]

'do have to wonder' x 2

gack. Well, proper blogging software would allow after-the-fact editing. Gotta love typepad.

[George Rebane]

re scenes 731am - for the life of RR, Rebane Doctrine has promoted/predicted the idea that retiring national debt will only be possible nominally with the destruction of the dollar. We are now on the way to make possible the retiring of our publicly held debt by the transfer of wealth from the people through inflation. After all, through the ballot box the people voted to keep borrowing without bound, now the people get to pay their debt. More here -
https://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2009/05/fiscal-disaster-calculator.html

[scenes]

re: GeorgeR

No doubt there was always the hope that economic growth per capita would fill the gap.

Or that importing millions of younger people would fill the gap, in a sort of population Ponzi scheme.

Regardless of .gov spending and the general monkey motion of financial policy, I've had a crude and mechanical way to look at it all. How many useful things are produced by people? How many useful things are consumed by people? Given the malinvestment in the FIRE industries, the number of people involved as go-betweens, lawyering, useless non-profits, inefficient healthcare, the endless overhead of government, there's always bound to be an end-of-the-line where borrowing ceases to work. The problem is that there are weeks where decades happen.